Saudi "Deep State" Prince Bandar Among Those Arrested In Purge: Report | Zero Hedge
Description: This latest explosive report is based on multiple contacts "inside the royal court"
Keywords: Zero Hedge,Zerohedge,Finance,Economics,Markets,Politics,Analysis,Corruption,Iraq,Middle East,New York Times,Saudi Arabia
Date: 2017-11-10T00:00:00Z

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# Saudi "Deep State" Prince Bandar Among Those Arrested In Purge: Report

by Tyler Durden
Nov 10, 2017 2:14 PM
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According to a new report by Middle East Eye, Prince Bandar bin Sultan - Saudi Arabia's most famous arms dealer, longtime former ambassador to the US, and recent head of Saudi intelligence - was among those detained as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's (MBS) so-called "corruption purge" that started with the initial arrests of up to a dozen princes and other top officials last weekend.

If confirmed, the arrest and detention of Bandar would constitute the most significant and high profile figure caught up in the purge - even above that of high profile billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal - given Bandar's closeness to multiple US administrations and involvement in events ranging from Reagan's Nicaraguan Contra program (including direct involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal), to making the case for the Iraq War as a trusted friend of Bush and Cheney, to directing US-Saudi covert operations overseeing the arming of jihadists in Syria.

Famous photograph of George W. Bush and his close confidant Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

Middle East Eye issued the report based on multiple contacts "inside the royal court" and indicates further that the scale of MBS' aggressive crackdown is much larger than previously reported, and even involves the torture of "senior figures" among those detained:

> Some senior figures detained in last Saturday's purge in Saudi Arabia were beaten and tortured so badly during their arrest or subsequent interrogations that they required hospital treatment, Middle East Eye can reveal. People inside the royal court also told MEE that the scale of the crackdown, which has brought new arrests each day, is much bigger than Saudi authorities have admitted, with more than 500 people detained and double that number questioned.

And shockingly, those sources say that the longtime Saudi 'deep state' power broker and liaison with the West, Prince Bandar, is among the detained:

> One of the most famous is Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former Saudi ambassador to Washington and confidant of former US President George W Bush. There is no word on his fate, but Saudi authorities said that one of the corruption cases they are looking at is the al-Yamamah arms deal, in which Bandar was involved.

While no doubt Bandar's very well-known role in Saudi "oil for arms" programs which have come to define Saudi relations with the West over the past decades is a trumped up and "selective" charge (insofar as the highest levels of the state have overseen such shady dealing) the al-Yamamah deal in particular - which goes back to the mid-1980's - has been an historical embarrassment to both the UK and Saudi governments (BAE Systems was the prime British contractor involved) for the astounding level of fraudulent accounting exposed in UK courts.

Concerning Prince Bandar's role in the al-Yamamah deal, Middle East Eye continues:

> Bandar bought an entire village in the Cotswolds, a picturesque area of central England, and a 2,000-acre sporting estate with part of the proceeds from kickbacks he received in the al-Yamamah arms deal, which netted British manufacturer BAE £43bn ($56.5bn) in contracts for fighter aircraft.

> As much as $30m (£15m) is alleged to have been paid into Bandar’s dollar account at Riggs Bank in Washington and the affair led to corruption probes in the US and UK, although the case was dropped in the UK in 2006 after an intervention by then-prime minister Tony Blair.

But more likely is that Bandar has been caught up in this week's MBS dragnet for his closeness to Western heads of state and foreign intelligence services. With MBS' aggressive consolidation of power which could result in ascension to the throne at any moment, and with fate of multiple princes and officials still unknown - not the least of which is now ex-PM of Lebanon Saad Hariri - a shroud of secrecy has resulted in myriad theories concerning what is really happening behind the scenes.

Likely, Bandar has been detained to ensure a communications blackout with Western intelligence and media until MBS' plans are complete, with the added benefit of ensuring the "anti-corruption" angle to the purges for the consumption of international media.

Bandar (left) has been close to multiple US administrations spanning decades with direct involvement in events ranging from Reagan's Nicaraguan Contra program (including being named in the Iran-Contra scandal), to making the case for the Iraq War as a trusted friend of Bush and Cheney, to directing Obama-era covert operations to arm jihadists in Syria.

Ironically, Bandar himself once seemed to publicly boast about receiving massive kickbacks in relation to Saudi weapons dealing, which perhaps further made him an easy and high profile target in this week's crackdown. According to a royal family profile highlighting corruption in the New York Times from early this week:

> Perhaps the most famous statement on corruption in Saudi Arabia was made by Prince Bandar. In an interview with PBS in 2001, he said: “If you tell me that building this whole country, and spending $350 billion out of $400 billion, that we had misused or got corrupted with $50 billion, I’ll tell you, yes. But I’ll take that anytime.”

And the New York Times summarized the key events of the multi-billion pound weapons deal with the UK as follows:

> Weapons contracts have long been a source of wealth. British media reported that Prince Bandar received well over $1 billion in secret payments from BAE Systems, the leading British military contractor, over the course of a decade. The son of founding King Abdulaziz’s personal doctor, Adnan Khashoggi, became a billionaire as an arms dealer and go-between for weapons makers and members of the royal family.

Meanwhile news of Bandar's possible arrest and detention hasn't spread very widely in international media reports as of this writing, but it will be interesting to see the response in the West should the news be confirmed. Will Bandar's friends in Washington and London go to bat for him? Or will Prince Bandar quietly recede into the background of a permanent forced retirement from public life?

Most likely the latter will be the case. Regardless, for friends of the former powerful Saudi intelligence director on either side of the Atlantic and within Saudi Arabia itself, Bandar no doubt knows where all the skeletons are buried, and this alone makes him a worrisome, volatile and unpredictable figure in the midst of a transfer of power.

- New York Times
- Corruption
- Iraq
- Middle East
- Saudi Arabia

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ludwigvmises Nov 10, 2017 2:17 PM

Bandar was the piece of shit who lobbied the Bush administration to fly out the entire Bin Laden family from the US without questioning them after 9/11.

hedgeless_horseman ludwigvmises Nov 10, 2017 2:20 PM

Yes, but supposedly it was Chertoff released the Five Dancing Israelis.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-08/do-you-remember-five-men-being-...

pot_and_kettle hedgeless_horseman Nov 10, 2017 2:20 PM

That's the cocksucker who threatened Putin and Sochi 2014 and Putin ended throwing him out of his office ;-)

BaBaBouy pot_and_kettle Nov 10, 2017 2:29 PM

What happens Next ?

Will they all be publicly executed House Of Saud Style ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Silenced Forever

evoila BaBaBouy Nov 10, 2017 2:33 PM

Might as well look into Tom Barrack at Colony Capital....

BaBaBouy evoila Nov 10, 2017 2:45 PM

I'll never get that picture of Thump doing the Woar "Sword Dance" with the Sheiks ...

I think we only have 5% of the actual story thats going on Here ...

"FatFinger" had to hit GOLD hard today for some reason.

wee-weed up BaBaBouy Nov 10, 2017 2:46 PM

Bandar Bush!

BaBaBouy wee-weed up Nov 10, 2017 2:51 PM

Heres The Clue ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4IXm7sEoPo

mc888 BaBaBouy Nov 10, 2017 3:04 PM

I like the drums. But I could do without the soccer chanting.

Pinto Currency mc888 Nov 10, 2017 3:12 PM

Trump and Putin both big smiles today.

Far from over though.

House of Saud's control of Saudi Arabia is in play.

Manthong Pinto Currency Nov 10, 2017 4:32 PM

Awshit…

Bin Dar, done dat…. Or WTF ????

In case it is not obvious to the casual observer.. the whole Sawhoodie system is being uprooted……………..

Something is going on there…………………………………………….

got orb ?????

Escrava Isaura Manthong Nov 10, 2017 4:52 PM

tmosley below: One wonders if the peanut gallery will EVER understand what has happened here? It should be fucking obvious that Trump is eliminating the Deep State, starting with the Saudis.

Oh boy. Highly recommend that you, and many more here, do some research before commenting.

It’s the other way around. Saudi Arabia is playing Trump.

“The Saudis played Donald Trump like a fiddle” - Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution.

Manthong Escrava Isaura Nov 10, 2017 4:58 PM

J H F C

To use an idiot bushism and an Ivanaism…

Maybe you misunderestimate the Donald here

Escrava Isaura Manthong Nov 10, 2017 5:16 PM

Underestimate?

Trump clearly expressed his views of Saudi Arabia during his Presidential campaign.

We’ll find out if he’ll follow-through in the next three years.

I don’t think he will.

Manthong Escrava Isaura Nov 10, 2017 5:44 PM

Well, the good news is that Prescott Bush, the grandfather of GHW and great grandfather of GW with his business partner (Herbert Walker) financed Nazis from their Union Bank……… so everything is cool

Escrava Isaura Manthong Nov 10, 2017 5:55 PM

Please don’t change the subject.

We’re talking Saudi Arabia and Trump.

My point being that Saudi Arabia is run by right wingers. And Trump will love them. So, all Trumps’ campaign rhetoric about Saudi Arabia will be just that: Rhetorical.

Manthong Escrava Isaura Nov 10, 2017 5:59 PM

..... myopic

Bubuzinho Escrava Isaura Nov 10, 2017 5:27 PM

You're quoting a piece published by the Brookings Institution, which receives funding directly from Dr. Evil himself, Soros...Yea, they're about as unbiased as CNN, Washington Times and The Huffy Post....Still voting PT as well?

WordSmith2013 Bubuzinho Nov 10, 2017 5:45 PM

"All Saudi actions are taken to neutralize the counter-coup in Vegas.

Things will get much worse before they get...."

http://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=88841

Counter-coup in Saudi Arabia played out in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 at the Mandalay Bay
Vigilante WordSmith2013 Nov 10, 2017 6:12 PM

Dammit...why don't you go the whole 9 yards

Throw in some inter-galactic conspiracy....some Elvis sightings...Roswell.

Stir well.

Freddie Vigilante Nov 10, 2017 6:39 PM

I want to see Prince Bandar Bush lose his head. Looks like Bush liked French kissing Saudis as did Obola.

NeoCon Condi Rice. Some idiots over at Free Republic think she should repalce Goodell as NFL commish. I want the NFL to die.

Al Gophilia Manthong Nov 10, 2017 6:33 PM

Notice how its only these self-appointed "royal" and elevated, deep state, elite cunts who get to kill people with some sort of empowered impunity, as if it's a normal thing to do. It's historically sanctioned, old boy.

earleflorida Pinto Currency Nov 10, 2017 5:43 PM

america doesn't need OPEC anymoar. period!

the years since 1979 - present are now no longer needed in ussa policy--- the petrodollar (the liquidity [keynesianism] money trap) is DOA!!!

america has,... along with the EU (designed to crush the EU ?) has wasted its hegemony on a failed FRB System of 'QE to Infinity' leaving our deficit compromised for decades.with are currency worthless with no way out but interest hikes being all but China's 'Dionysius Trap'?!?

so,... the great empire of short duration finds the 'Sword of Damocles' thrust through its very heart by the 'City' of money changers now teaching the Chinaman the ways of the Chosen?!?

BennyBoy mc888 Nov 10, 2017 3:10 PM

Prince, princess, king, queen, duke, etc. = mafia clan monopolistcally terrorizing a territory.

EnglishMajor mc888 Nov 10, 2017 3:31 PM

Why hasn't he already retired to a ranch in Texas to be near his family?

weburke mc888 Nov 10, 2017 4:39 PM

people dont realize the prince is a jew.

weburke weburke Nov 10, 2017 4:41 PM

the israelis have worked for a long time on this. takeover the riches with a king of their making.

null weburke Nov 10, 2017 5:19 PM

Concentrate, firm hold on your crayon, now try to color within the lines.

Katos wee-weed up Nov 10, 2017 6:05 PM

We can only hope and pray that Bandar BUSH IS tortured and spills THE beans on the entire BUSH FAMILY CRIME CABAL??? THESE SICK PEDOPHILES should be in Leavenworth awaiting the firing squad for Treason, for child trafficking, for SATANIC RITUAL ABUSE OF SMALL CHILDREN! FOR THE manipulation OF our government and our MEDIA through the CARLYLE GROUP ! THE STEALING OF trillions of taxpayers dollars by bombing MIDDLE East COUNTRIES back to the stone age!

tmosley BaBaBouy Nov 10, 2017 2:49 PM

One wonders if the peanut gallery will EVER understand what has happened here?

It should be fucking obvious that Trump is eliminating the Deep State, starting with the Saudis. Those in power are playing ball. With their foreign support gone, the ones left at home are going to be easy pickings. Sealed indictments have been filed, likely against the Clinton Foundation.

"Swinging from nooses" indeed.

BaBaBouy tmosley Nov 10, 2017 3:01 PM

Calm Down, nothings' gonna happen to the Elitists, Deep State gets Deeper, Shaddow Govt gets Shaddowier ...

Thought Processor tmosley Nov 10, 2017 2:59 PM

This one is interesting. Bandar was a huge player in the NWO US / Saudi quid pro quo system.

May be a very interesting weekend both here (U.S.) and abroad.

Rockatanski tmosley Nov 10, 2017 3:03 PM

drain the swamp?

STP Rockatanski Nov 10, 2017 5:02 PM

If you look at how the Saudi's are 'draining' their swamp, they're not draining it, so much as dynamiting it. Wonder why all those R's are retiring and leaving suddenly...

Carl Spackler Rockatanski Nov 10, 2017 6:48 PM

This is the Saudi form of “draining the swamp.”

Although their slogan may be “drain the oasis!”

malek tmosley Nov 10, 2017 3:07 PM

You mean Mohammed bin Salman is the good guy, and you know that for sure?

MK13 malek Nov 10, 2017 3:52 PM

MBS is the new guy for the Deep State that's trying to bury its still breathing skeletons. Clinton Foundation and its contacts are lose ends that need to be tied.

vato poco MK13 Nov 10, 2017 4:21 PM

I don't know a damn thing about MBS. one way to make conclusions as to who he is, is to look at his enemies: all longtime deep state scum.

don't think that's a BAD sign, do you?

tmosley malek Nov 10, 2017 4:29 PM

No, he's a mudshit. But now they won't be mudshits dictating US policy.

TheReplacement malek Nov 10, 2017 4:31 PM

MBS certainly has his own motivations, useful temporarily or otherwise is the question.

BetweenThe Coasts tmosley Nov 10, 2017 3:07 PM

Might be equally obvious new Saudi prince-dictator-whatever is getting free of US control (Deep State and political temps).

Future Jim tmosley Nov 10, 2017 3:28 PM

"Trump is eliminating the Deep State"

--OR--

As Benjamin Netanyahu said,there is no greater friend to Israel and the Jewish people than Donald Trump.

Israel wants the oil under Lebanon and the Golan Heights, and it seems like they are having their puppets (Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah) fight in order to create an opportunity to stop anyone else from getting any of that oil.

redmudhooch Future Jim Nov 10, 2017 4:32 PM

"trusted friend of Bush and Cheney, to directing Obama-era covert operations to arm jihadists in Syria."

Isis is Israel, Zionist banksters. You gotta love how Israel keeps getting left out of these stories.

I'm waiting to see Bush, all the Noeocon

PNACer's in cuffs.

Open your mind, we're all not so different.

This guy is lucky to be alive, this is an awesome video, watch it, beginning to end.

''The Conspiracy Of The International Bankers''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZuSelMJvpc

Omen IV tmosley Nov 10, 2017 3:34 PM

rather than the analysis is Trump instigating this house cleaning it is closer to the truth that power is being consolidated, leakage of Billions in bribes stopped & reversed, strategic direction changed to conserve liquidity & face the reality on the ground and the recognition that resources that underpin this House of Cards are on an accelerating decline.

without SA there is no offset to Iran and the Shia Crescent and therefore Israel is out in the cold with the wind blowing harder. Even if "wounded" SA must be preserved and consolidated.

as Brennan said they made a mistake with Iran and pressed too hard for too long and they dont forget

KrazyMax tmosley Nov 10, 2017 4:26 PM

There's no way to KNOW of course, but from the multitude of sources I access, including what I learn from the contributor's on ZH, it's obvious a "change" is in the works.

I pray it's for the better, because the way things have been going... I fear we're fairly close to the edge!

TheReplacement tmosley Nov 10, 2017 4:36 PM

An America centric question might be: Are any of these perps being tortured into testifying against TPTB in the west?

"Now Bandar, what do you know of the Clinton Foundation?"

Lolitsa TheReplacement Nov 10, 2017 5:54 PM

I'm fairly certain this towel head is being waterboarded into telling some tales. Hex, they probably don't even have to torture. Just ask.

when the saxon began tmosley Nov 10, 2017 6:10 PM

It is good that there is still time remaining to dream...

dark pools of soros BaBaBouy Nov 10, 2017 3:58 PM

you STILL care about gold as bitcoin flew past the moon outta the milkyway?

Gold doesnt go up unless this and everysite goes dark.. so there is no reason to squwak about gold since you will never be able to tell anyone once it skyrockets

go to puerto rico and live the gold stacker fantasy scenario

TheReplacement dark pools of soros Nov 10, 2017 4:33 PM

A fool would dismiss history.

A wiser man might stfu learn from history and stack 10% of his bitcoin winnings for a rainy day.

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