Saudi’s MBS is ‘psychopath, killer’, who wanted to kill former King, says intelligence chief

Saudi Crown Prince, Mohamed Bin Salman, wanted to kill the former King, the late Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, to clear the throne for his own father, according to Riyadh’s former senior intelligence officer, Saad Al-Jabri, who divulged the details during a sensational interview with the American 60 Minutes television programme.

Known popularly as MBS, Al-Jabri, who has been living in exile in Canada since 2017, described the Crown Prince as a “psychopath, killer, in the Middle East with infinite resources, who poses a threat to his people, to the Americans and to the planet”.

“I want to assassinate King Abdullah,” Jabri said MBS had told Mohammed Bin Nayef in 2014, the year before the monarch died at the age of 90. “I get a poison ring from Russia. It’s enough for me just to shake hand[s] with him and he will be done.”

READ: Ex-Saudi intelligence czar under heightened security in Canada following new threats

A close ally of Bin Nayef, Al-Jabri fled the Kingdom following a “soft-coup” that saw MBS replace his older cousin as Crown Prince. Concerns have been raised over the safety of Bin Nayef since his removal as Crown Prince.

Al-Jabri claimed that his life was under threat because of information he has about MBS, including his comments regarding wanting to kill the former King. Apparently, the threat against the late King was taken seriously and Al-Jabri knows of the existence of two copies of the recording from the conversation to kill King Abdullah, as well their location.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s hunt for its former top intelligence official arrived in the island of Malta, opening a new front in the international feud between the exiled critic and the Crown Prince. Al-Jabri is accused of misappropriating state funds and embezzlement. He has denied the allegation.

Al-Jabri spoke of the plight of his two youngest children who were arrested and are in prison in Saudi Arabia in what is widely seen as an attempt to force their father back to the country.

“I have to speak out. I am appealing to the American people and to the American administration to help me to release those children and to restore their life,” said Al-Jabri.

Though living in exile, Al-Jabri said he “expect[ed] to be killed one day because this guy [MBS] will not rest until he sees me dead.”