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A full year after Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman turned the Ritz Carlton hotel into a jail for the kingdom's elite, many still remain imprisoned, according to The Washington Post.
The Saudi Attorney General said there were 56 people imprisoned earlier this year, and last month bin Salman said there were only eight still detained.
"But other people familiar with the detentions said the number is much higher, with 45 Ritz detainees still locked up," the newspaper said.
A prominent member of the royal family that is still detained is Prince Turki bin Abdullah, son of the late King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz. He served as the head of the King Abdullah Foundation, a multibillion dollar charitable organization.
The European Commission on Tuesday called on Saudi Arabia to collaborate with Turkish authorities on investigating the killing last month of a journalist at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul."We expect Saudi institutions to provide all the information they have about the case and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. This needs to be done in full collaboration with the Turkish authorities," commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told a press briefing in Brussels."From the very beginning we have been asking Saudi Arabia to shed light on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi through a full credible, transparent and prompt investigation," she added.Germany says all behind Khashoggi murder should be punishedKhashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post, was killed on Oct. 2.After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted that Khashoggi had been killed at the Saudi Consulate but claimed that the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of a plot to murder him.EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini earlier said: "We expect a thorough investigation and full transparency from the Saudi authorities on what has happened."Journalists in UK call for action against Saudi ArabiaIn a non-binding resolution on Oct. 25, the European Parliament condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the reported torture and killing of the journalist.The EP urged an "independent and impartial" international probe of the killing, also warning that targeted sanctions could be imposed if Saudi agents are found guilty in his death.Last week, Turkish prosecutors announced their preliminary findings, saying Khashoggi was strangled to death in a premeditated killing soon after he entered the consulate.The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said Khashoggi's body was disposed of after being dismembered.Saudi authorities have so far claimed that they do not know the whereabouts of his remains.UK, Canada say urgent need to resolve Khashoggi murder
EU urges Saudi cooperation with Turkish Khashoggi probe
Some human rights experts, however, say bin Salman is planning to release some prisoners to cool tensions after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post, was killed on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
“They don’t want to do it, but they are under pressure, and they will do it to release some pressure,” Yahya Assiri, a Saudi human rights activist living in self-exile in London, told the Post.
Saudi authorities released Prince Khaled bin Talal on Friday, who was critical of bin Salman's decision to strip the religious police of their power, according to the Post.
A major journalists’ union in the U.K. on Tuesday said governments across the world have economic levers, diplomatic tools and international instruments to bring the killers of Jamal Khashoggi and people who ordered it to justice.A National Union of Journalists (NUJ) spokesperson told Anadolu Agency that the union supports the International Federation of Journalists’ call for governments to end their cooperation with the Saudi government until it "tells the truth and arrests the perpetrators".The NUJ reiterated its call on the British government "to ensure there is a full and independent inquiry into the killing" of journalist Khashoggi, the spokesperson said, adding “there must be no impunity.”UK, Canada say urgent need to resolve Khashoggi murder“All governments can act - they have economic levers, diplomatic tools and international instruments to seek to bring the killers and those who ordered it to justice,” the statement from the NUJ said.The NUJ held vigils outside Saudi embassies in London and Dublin, condemning the murder.The Foreign Press Association (FPA) also reacted to the murder.Saudis sent 'clean-up' team to Turkey after Khashoggi killing, official says“We ask that the perpetrators of the murders in Malta of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Jamal Kashoggi in Turkey, journalists in Mexico, Afghanistan, Bulgaria and across the world be held to account and brought to justice,” a statement on the FPA website said.Khashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post, disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to receive paperwork he needed to get married.Once inside, he was immediately strangled and then dismembered, according to the Istanbul Prosecutor’s office.
Journalists in UK call for action against Saudi Arabia
The shake up at the Ritz Carlton last year was an effort by bin Salman to solidify his power and eliminate rivals within the royal family, targeting the family of late King Abdullah, who is the brother of King Salman bin Abdelaziz.
In addition to jailing Turki, King Abdullah's other sons Prince Muteib bin Abdullah, Prince Faisal bin Abdullah and Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah were also thrown in jail.
The al-Hair high-security prison south of Riyadh is currently holding Adel Fakeih, 59, former mayor of Jeddah, Walid Fitaihi, 54, prominent physician, Amr al-Dabbagh, 52, chairman of the Jeddah-based Al-Dabbagh Group, Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi, 72, a Saudi-Ethiopian businessman who had a net worth of $8.1 billion last year and Bakr bin Laden, Jeddah-based chairman of the powerful Saudi Binladin Group, according to media reports.
“These are the families that helped Abdul Aziz unify and build the country in the 1920s and ’30s,” Robert Lacey, a British historian who has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, told the Post. “Now they are treated as criminals.”
Saudi Arabia's crown prince set in motion seven major energy projects, one of which is to build the kingdom’s first nuclear research reactor, according to the Saudi Press Agency’s report late Monday.During his visit to King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched key projects for atomic energy, renewable energy, water desalination, genetic medicine and aircraft manufacturing.Among the launched projects is a nuclear reactor described as a "low-energy research reactor," a solar energy-powered desalination plant in Khafji with a capacity of 60 thousand cubic meters of water per day, and a desalination plant in Yanbu with a capacity for 5.2 thousand cubic meters per day.Israel’s new favorite: OmanThe nuclear reactor is likely to draw international attention as the kingdom selects bidders for its first nuclear plant.According to the World Nuclear Association, Saudi Arabia plans to build two large nuclear power reactors to diversify its energy supply, at a cost of more than $80 billion.In April 2013, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE) aimed to have 17 gigawatts (GWe) of nuclear capacity by 2032 out of a total of 123 GWe. In January 2015, the nuclear target date was moved to 2040 and KA-CARE announced that it was soliciting proposals for 2.9 GWe of nuclear capacity from South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.With the realization of the nuclear project, the kingdom is set to become the second Gulf Arab state to launch a nuclear power project after the U.A.E.'Gulf crises will pass, but economy is stronger'
Saudi prince launches country's 1st nuke plant project