A former Saudi official has made a shocking claim regarding the Yemen war. The official has said that the Crown Prince forged the King’s signature for the Yemen war. A former Saudi official has alleged in a report that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged his father’s signature on the royal order. It was only after this order that the war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels began.
In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Saad al-Jabri has made these allegations without any evidence. Saudi Arabia has not yet commented on the matter. However, Saudi has described him as a disgraced former government official. Former Saudi intelligence officer Al-Jabri, who is living in exile in Canada, has been in dispute with the country for years. The officer’s two children were in jail and he has alleged that efforts are being made to bring him back by imprisoning his children. In his statement, Al-Jabri said that a reliable, trusted official associated with the Saudi Home Ministry has confirmed to him that Prince Mohammed has signed the royal decree declaring war in place of his father. Al-Jabri told the BBC, “We were surprised that there was a royal decree to allow ground intervention. The king’s mental condition was deteriorating.”
Conflict has been going on in Yemen for the past decade
Yemen has been at war for the past decade against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The Crown Prince had promised that the war would end as soon as possible. More than 1.5 lakh people have died in this war and it is considered one of the biggest humanitarian disasters in the world. Prince Mohammed was the Defense Minister when the war began.
Crown Prince accused of conspiracy to kill
Al-Jabri once worked for former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a US confidante in the kingdom’s fight against al-Qaeda militants after the September 11, 2001 attacks. King Salman replaced the crown prince with his son in 2017 and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef is believed to have been placed under house arrest after that. Al-Jabri had sued Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a US court alleging that the crown prince tried to kill him after he fled abroad.