Saudi’s King Salman dismisses royals, officers in corruption probe at Ministry of Defence

Saudi Arabi’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued a royal order on Monday dismissing two royals and four officers as part of a corruption probe at the Ministry of Defence.

The investigations followed directives to the Control and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) from Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence to probe financial irregularities at the Ministry of Defence.

Following an investigation, the authority uncovered corruption at the ministry linked to “Lt. General Fahad bin Turki bin Abdualziz, Prince Abdulaziz Fahad bin Turki bin Abdualziz, and a number of officers, civil officials and others,” reported state news media Saudi Press Agency.

Therefore, the king issued an order to terminate the services of Prince Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. He has reportedly been referred to authorities for further investigations.

The former commander’s son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahad bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, too has also been relieved from his post as Deputy Governor of Al-Jouf Region, and referred to the authorities for further investigation.

Meanwhile, Lt. General Mutlaq bin Salim bin Mutlaq Al-Azima, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, has been assigned as a replacement and will now serve as the Commander of the Joint Forces.

Also, Yousef bin Rakan bin Hindi Al-Otaibi, Mohammed bin Abdulkarim bin Mohammad Al-Hassan, Faisal bin Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al-Ajlan, and Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed Al-Khalifah have been referred to for further investigation as part of this probe.