Lebanese Analyst: S. Arabia Administered by US Intelligence System

A prominent Lebanese analyst referred to Washington’s extreme influence on the Saudi king and monarchy system, and said Saudi Arabia is administered by the US intelligence system.

“At present, Saudi Arabia is administered by the US intelligence system and whatever the US intelligence officers and officials intend to do in the country becomes a circular in (the government offices of) Saudi Arabia very fast,” Director of the Arab and International Strategic Studies Center Qaleb Qandil told FNA on Sunday.

Noting that the Saudi princes have grown too old and senile to manage the country, he said this is the reason why they have surrendered the control of their country to the US.

Qandil also referred to the death of Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, a half brother of King Abdullah, and said a crisis worse than the one which took place after the death of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz will be seen in Riyadh after Nayef’s death due to the contradictory stances and aspirations of the Saudi statesmen and their rifts over the selection of the next to the throne.

Analysts believe that the death of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, a hard-line conservative, will have devastating consequences for the Al Saud dynasty and fuel the ongoing power struggle among the royal family as tension and unrests grow in the Eastern parts of the country.

The current Saudi ruler has so far picked his crown prince from the al-Saud family, including his aged brothers and nephews and not from his sons or grandsons.

Observers say that due to the unpopularity of the Saudi dynasty among the people both inside Saudi Arabia and in the region, the ongoing conditions in Saudi Arabia indicate the start of an uprising against the country’s rulers similar to the popular uprisings in the other Arab states.