Saudi Arabia prince defects from royal family

A Saudi Prince known as Khalid Bin Farhan al-Saud has decided to leave the royal family, saying the regime does not consider God’s rules.

On Saturday, Khalid Bin Farhan said “With pride, I announce my defection from al-Saudi family in Saudi Arabia… This regime in Saudi Arabia does not stand by God’s rules or even [the country’s] established rules and its policies, decisions and actions are totally based on [the] personal will of its leaders.”

He also slammed the royal family as well as the leaders in the kingdom, saying “All that is said in Saudi Arabia about respecting law and religion rules is factitious, so that they can lie and pretend that the regime obeys Islamic rules.”

The prince went on to say that the royal family has rejected all calls for reform by people’s representatives and used violence as well as suppression against them.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, mainly its Eastern Province, has been witnessing anti-regime protests on an almost daily basis since February 2011.

The primary demands of the protesters were the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread discrimination.

However, the demonstrations turned into protests against the repressive Al Saud regime, especially after November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the province.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter, with the black gold accounting for 90 percent of the country’s exports, but it struggles with problems such as poverty and unemployment.