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Al-Arabiya manager accused of being bribed by royals

November 23, 2016 at 5:35 pm

The general manager of the Saudi news channel Al-Arabiya has been accused of corruption after he accumulated an extortionate amount of wealth after forming a close friendship with Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince in the midst of austerity measures, according to documents obtained by the Middle East Observer.

According to the documents, in February 2015, Al-Arabiya General Manager Turki Al-Dakhil was worth around 8.4 million Saudi riyals ($2.24 million). The documents were dated two weeks before Al-Dakhil’s appointment to the post and two weeks before King Salman was appointed monarch of Saudi Arabia.

Another document, leaked from August 2015, showed that Al-Dakhil’s worth had risen to nearly 94 million Saudi riyals ($25 million), 11 times higher than it was only six months earlier, before his appointment.

Around that same period, Al-Dakhil, who is also close to the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Zayid purchased a property in Dubai for 17 million UAE Dirhams ($4.6 million).

Middle East Observer has also received documents that Al-Dakhil was bribed by the UAE regime between 2012-2014, adding that he had been “groomed” prior to his appointment at Al-Arabiya.