Dissident Saudi prince forcefully returned to Riyadh

An outspoken Saudi prince has allegedly been kidnapped and returned to Saudi Arabia in what seems to be the third case of such incident for a dissident Saudi Arabian royal family member over the last 12 months.

Prince Sultan bin Turki’s friends and associates say he disappeared, along with his entourage, on February 1, after boarding a plane in Paris for the destination of Cairo, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The prince had made plans to visit friends and his father, the older brother of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and had made reservations at the Kempinski Hotel in Cairo’s Garden City district, but never checked in. 

“There was a Saudi plane with a flight plan to Cairo but the plane did not fly to Cairo,” said one of the prince’s associates. “This airplane had a Saudi flag on the tail. This plane came from the Kingdom.” 

One of the prince's friends told media that a senior member of the royal family had assured Prince Sultan of his safety in Egypt about a week before the planned trip. “But it was a big mistake and he paid the price.”

Another friend, who was supposed to welcome Prince Sultan in Cairo, said the Saudi prince had been joking about his imminent abduction. “If you didn’t find me, they have taken me to Riyadh. Try to do something,” he had told him about a week prior to the trip.

In July, Sultan had filed a criminal complaint in Switzerland against his cousin Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd, as well as the current Saudi minister of Islamic affairs, Saleh al-Sheikh, over another alleged abduction, which took place just outside Geneva in 2003.

He claims that the abduction was related to a chain of events stretching back to the early 2000s. He came to brief public prominence in 2002 when he promised to reveal the full extent of corruption among Saudi monarchy and issued a public call for reform. 

Back in 2003, the abducted prince spent five days at a hospital due to medical complications and was later held at the high security al-Hai’r prison. He was then placed under house arrest for several years in Riyadh.

The prince made an unexpected partial recovery and escaped Saudi custody late in 2010.

Sultan is the third member of the Saudi royal family to vanish without explanation during the last 12 months.

Prince Turki bin Bandar bin Mohammed bin Abdurahman al-Saud and Prince Saud bin Saif al-Nasr bin Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud both went missing after taking up a critical stance against the government in Riyadh before disappearing.

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