Saudi king’s son plotted to oust rival cousin: report

A new report has emerged with details of what is being called Saudi Arabia's "palace coup" in which the king's 31-year-old son deposed his cousin to become heir to the throne.

Mohammed bin Nayef, the former crown prince, was reportedly held in a room in a royal palace in Makkah and told he could not leave until he surrendered his powers to his younger cousin, Mohammed bin Salman, The New York Times reported.



According to The New York Times, senior Saudi princes were told in a secret midnight briefing that 57-year-old bin Nayef's alleged addiction to painkillers rendered him unfit to become king.

The Saudi government has been trying hard to show that there is no friction between the deposed Nayef and his younger cousin, but the new account of the royal happenings shows the transition was not as amicable as portrayed.

Bin Nayef, was reportedly summoned to Safa Palace on the evening of June 20 for what he thought was a regular meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz. However, he was reportedly taken into a side room and stripped of his mobile phone by royal officials, who told him he needed to give up his role as crown prince and relinquish the powerful role of interior minister.

According to reports he initially refused, but as the night dragged on towards sunrise he eventually gave in.

In 2009, bin Nayef narrowly survived an al Qaeda assassination attempt. It has been rumoured that he began taking painkillers after the attack, and became addicted. Bin Nayef refuses to publicly comment on this.

This article originally appeared on New York Times.