Alwaght- Saudi prince Talal bin Abdulaziz has launched a hunger strike on 10 November to protest detention of three of his own sons during a purge being carried out by his nephew Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The 86-year-old prince, who is the half brother of King Salman, stopped eating on 10 November, shortly after his first son, Waleed, was arrested on 4 November, and has lost 10 kilos in one month, Middle East Eye reported.
Last week, a feeding tube was inserted into him, but his condition at the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh remains weak, according to several people who have visited him.
A month before his action, Talal told friends it was right to protest “civilly” to draw attention to the tyranny which his young nephew bin Salman is establishing under the cover of an anti-corruption purge.
Talal’s presence at the hospital has become a meeting point for many of the Al Saud family, and a way for them to witness what is happening.
Prince Talal is known as a liberal. A former finance minister in the government of King Saud (1953-64), he became known as the Red Prince in the 1960s for leading the Free Princes Movement which called for an end to the absolute monarchy.
But the royal family rejected the movement and Talal was forced into exile in Cairo before his mother was able to engineer a reconciliation with the family.
Talal campaigned for women’s rights long before the decision in September to allow Saudi women to drive. The prince said in one interview: “Saudi women will take their rights eventually... the march towards that should not stop and we have to accelerate this a bit."
The prince has continued to campaign for a constitutional monarchy and the instigation of the separation of powers, which he claims is enshrined in the constitution.
In an interview with Egyptian Al Mihwar TV in 2007, Prince Talal said: “I have always believed in the separation of powers, the executive, legislative, and judicial authorities.
"King Fahd, may he rest in peace, implemented this in 1992, when he adopted the Saudi constitution which is the basic law of government. In it, the separation of authorities was mentioned explicitly. What we are demanding now is for the authorities to become independent.”
Three of Talal’s sons have been arrested. Alwaleed bin Talal, the chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, and one of the world’s richest men with assets valued by Bloomberg at $19bn, has been in prison since the first day of the purge.
According to informed sources, Mohammed bin Salman is demanding that Alwaleed sign over ownership of the entire Kingdom Holding Company. He is refusing to do this. If a settlement is not reached, Alwaleed will demand a trial.
Khalid, his full brother, lobbied for his brother’s release. Sources say that he got into an argument over his brother with a government official, and was subsequently arrested. Another younger brother was charged with affray.
