New Details: How MBS Held Power Through Assassination Tactics

The ‘Saudi Tiger Squad’, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has once again made headlines with new details about the latter's history of carrying out purges to seize power.

On August 21, 2024, the BBC revealed new secrets and shocking behind-the-scenes details about how MBS pursued his goals, including a policy of assassination that was a core doctrine for him.

‘The Bullet Man’

The documentary film “The Kingdom: The World's Most Powerful Prince” featured former Saudi intelligence official Saad al-Jabri, who is now a dissident living in exile, having fled to escape Crown Prince MBS’s pursuit.

Al-Jabri provided explosive testimony about MBS’s use of assassination policies, recounting an incident where MBS suggested killing his uncle, then-King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

He stated that MBS was apparently so impatient for his father to become king that in 2014, he reportedly suggested killing the then-monarch – Abdullah, his uncle – with a poisoned ring, obtained from Russia.

“I don’t know for sure if he was just bragging, but we took it seriously,” says al-Jabri. 

The former senior security official Al-Jabri stated that he watched a secretly recorded video of Mohammed bin Salman discussing the idea, emphasizing that he was "banned from entering the royal palace and from shaking hands with the king for a long time."

“He grew up in relative obscurity,” says Sir John Sawers, chief of MI6 until 2014. “He wasn’t earmarked to rise to power.”

The crown prince also grew up in a palace in which bad behavior had few, if any, consequences; and that may help explain his notorious habit of not thinking through the impact of his decisions until he had already made them, as per BBC.

MBS first achieved notoriety in Riyadh in his late teens, when he was nicknamed “Abu Rasasa” or “The Bullet Man”, after allegedly sending a bullet in the post to a judge who had overruled him in a property dispute.

“He has had a certain ruthlessness,” observes Sir John Sawers. “He doesn’t like to be crossed. But that also means he’s been able to drive through changes that no other Saudi leader has been able to do.”

‘The Tiger Squad’

Bin Salman achieved his goal of becoming Crown Prince on June 21, 2017, after ousting his cousin Mohammed bin Nayef, becoming the most powerful man in the country. His assassination policy then took a different and more dangerous turn.

He established the Tiger Squad, a notorious group composed of Saudi officers and intelligence agents selected for their ruthlessness, tasked with carrying out dirty work (assassinations) under MBS’s direct orders.

Several reports revealed the activities of the Crown Prince's special Tiger Squad, involved in numerous crimes and violations against political opponents, as per Al-Jazeera.

They described the operations of this highly secretive squad as having a dark history. 

The squad consists of members of the Saudi guard and special Saudi agencies, suggesting that Major General Ahmad Asiri might be responsible for the idea of its formation.

On October 23, 2018, according to a Saudi source described as close to Saudi intelligence, Middle East Eye (MEE) revealed the formation of an assassination squad operating under direct orders from MBS.

“The Firqat el-Nemr, or Tiger Squad, is well-known to the U.S. intelligence services. It was formed more than a year ago [in 2017] and is comprised of 50 of the best-skilled intelligence and military operatives in the kingdom,” according to MEE.

The source stated that the tiger squad's mission is to covertly assassinate Saudi dissidents, inside the kingdom and on foreign soil, in a way that goes unnoticed by the media, the international community, and politicians.

“They [the Saudi leadership] have the belief that arresting critics will mount pressure on them, so that's why they started assassinating them quietly,” the source said.

Notable members of the Tiger Squad involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi include Saud Abdulaziz al-Saleh, Khalid Ibrahim Abdulaziz al-Qassim, Mishaal Fahd al-Said, and Ibrahim Hamad Abdulrahman al-Humaid.

Others include Salah Mohammed Tubaigy, accused of dismembering Khashoggi's body, Mohammad Saad Hussein al-Zahrani, Mishaal Saad Mohammed al-Bustani, Waleed Abdullah Mohammed al-Shehri, Dhaar Ghalib Dhaar Al-Harbi, Maher Abdulaziz Mutrib, and Saif Saad al-Qahtani.

The murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018, inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul is one of the most notorious operations carried out by this squad and has shocked global public opinion.

Prince Mansour’s Murder

The report revealed that the Tiger Squad had appeared on several occasions before the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“I know of another attempt, which was to lure Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz in Canada to the consulate and kill him,” the source said. 

“But Abdulaziz refused to go and the mission failed. Khashoggi was the first [successful] operation.” 

“Separate reports have described how Abdulaziz was targeted by the Saudis using Israeli spyware software,” as per MEE.

The squad has also been accused of being behind the assassination of Saudi Prince Mansour bin Muqrin, the deputy governor of Asir province and son of a former crown prince, who attempted to flee the country aboard his private jet. The Tiger Squad targeted and brought down the aircraft.

On November 6, 2017, a Saudi helicopter crashed, carrying several prominent Saudi officials, including Prince bin Muqrin.

The slain prince had been at odds with his cousin, Mohammed bin Salman, who had dismissed him from his position in 2015.

Following this, bin Muqrin became involved with the internal faction of the al-Saud princes who were wary of the young prince’s rise and his ascension to the position of Deputy Crown Prince, and later, Crown Prince and de facto ruler of the country.

A Ruthless Tyrant

Regarding bin Salman's horrific crimes, The Washington Post described the Crown Prince as a ruthless tyrant on August 10, 2020.

The newspaper reported that then-U.S. President Donald Trump stated on October 15, 2018, that he had spoken with MBS about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after his entry into the consulate. MBS denied the reports of Khashoggi's death on the same day a second assassination team arrived in Canada to target Saad al-Jabri.

On August 7, 2020, al-Jabri filed a lawsuit with evidence and documents against MBS, accusing him of pursuing and attempting to assassinate him through the notorious death squad.

The lawsuit revealed that in July 2018, MBS and his agents succeeded in implanting spyware on al-Jabri’s phone after he received a message with a video file on WhatsApp from a Saudi journalist he knew in the kingdom.

The video file contained spyware that allowed access to information on al-Jabri’s phone, and potentially even his precise location.

It further noted that in October 2018, less than two weeks after Khashoggi's murder, the assassination team traveled to Canada to eliminate al-Jabri.

The group members tried to enter Ontario International Airport using different kiosks and claimed they did not know one another.

This raised suspicions among border security officials, who subjected them to a thorough inspection. Authorities at the airport found a photograph of the group members in one of their bags.

Before the assassination team arrived in Canada, the FBI sent intelligence information to Canadian authorities about their arrival.

This caused the team members to panic, as they were unprepared for the unexpected investigation. They requested the assistance of the Saudi embassy’s lawyer.

The lawyer advised the group to claim they had traveled to Canada to prepare for a visit by a high-level Saudi delegation and to accept deportation to avoid further investigation.

If these allegations are proven true, they reinforce the perception that the kingdom is led by a Crown Prince who oversees death squads and continues to evade accountability for his crimes, The Washington Post concluded.