Prince Salman’s signature forged and uproar ensued! Former Saudi official makes big claim

A big allegation has been leveled against Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Former Saudi intelligence officer Saad al-Jabri has accused the Crown Prince of forging his father King Salman’s signature on a royal decree. Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen began after the signing of this royal decree.

Saad al-Jabri, in an interview to the BBC and a subsequent statement to news agency Associated Press, has claimed that the Crown Prince signed the royal decree without the knowledge of his father King Salman.

Al-Jabri is currently living in exile in Canada and has had a long-standing feud with the Saudi government. His two children are imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, regarding which Jabri says that the Saudi government wants to force him to return to the country by imprisoning his children.

He has alleged that the Crown Prince wants to kill him. According to the AP report, Jabari said, ‘He planned to kill me. He will not find peace until I am killed. I have no doubt about this.’

He said that he will do everything possible to free his children from captivity. He also said that he is not an anti-national but a high-ranking officer who is dedicated to protecting Saudi Arabia.

Al-Jabri has claimed that a reliable source inside the Saudi Home Ministry told him that Mohammed bin Salman, who was the Defense Minister at the time, signed the royal decree on behalf of King Salman. King Salman was not even aware of this.

Al-Jabri also said that the then Home Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef had organized a meeting to formulate a strategy for the Yemen war, in which many disagreements were seen.

The original plan for the Yemen war was made in collaboration with the then Obama administration, which involved air strikes in Yemen and not ground action. Al-Jabri said that however, the crown prince forged his father’s signature on the royal decree, which allowed Saudi Arabia to move forward with the plan of ground attack in Yemen.

The Saudi government rejected Al-Jabri’s claim, saying he is a ‘disgraced former official’. Meanwhile, the US State Department has refused to comment on this.

Yemen’s devastating war began in 2015, killing more than 150,000 people and creating a major humanitarian crisis. At the start of the war, Prince Salman assured that it would end soon, but it has been almost a decade and it is still going on.