Saudi opposition site details Prince Sultan's kidnap in June.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

A Saudi opposition report has revealed details of what it said was the kidnap of a Saudi king's nephew, which took place in Geneva in June last year. The web site of the Movement for Islamic Reform on 31 December said that Prince Sultan Bin-Turki Bin-Abd-al-Aziz, who lived outside Saudi Arabia for some time, had been abducted after he "criticized" top-level corruption in Saudi Arabia. He was duped, sedated and kidnapped by "Ninja-masked, large bodied men" aboard a specially-hired "Boeing 747 medical evacuation aircraft" after a "trusting" meeting with top Saudi officials. The following is the text of the report, entitled "Details published for the first time: the complete story of the kidnapping of Prince Sultan Bin-Turki Bin-Abd-al-Aziz"; subheads as published:

In the middle of last June, Prince Sultan Bin-Turki Bin-Abd-al-Aziz disappeared in Geneva after he launched a campaign in which he criticized the financial and administrative corruption in Saudi Arabia and after he promised to hold a special seminar about corruption in the Defence Ministry. The circumstances of the disappearance of the prince were kept very secret. First, there were rumours that the prince had reached an understanding with the officials to return home and accept a tempting financial offer.

However, reports began spreading later about a complex kidnapping operation in whose planning and execution several princes and officials were involved. A few days later, it became clear that the prince was in a coma in the intensive care unit of the King Faysal Hospital in Riyadh. Then, there were reports that he came out of his coma, his health relatively improved, and was moved to his house and placed under house arrest and strong guard.

After it gathered all the details about the kidnapping operation from intelligence and diplomatic sources and from sources within the ruling family, besides the special connections of Sharif Abd-al-Aziz al-Shanbari, the Movement for Islamic Reform decided that the public should know the complete details of this operation. The following are the details and our comments and analysis:

Why now

The sons of Abd-al-Aziz, particularly Princes Sultan and Nayif, thought that the first statements by Prince Sultan Bin-Turki about one year ago were just an expression of anger that can be contained easily either by financial means or through the special influence of the ruling family. However, Prince Sultan Bin-Turki continued to make similar statements and began planning for a long-term activity to expose the financial and administrative corruption and the chaotic decision-making of the ruling family. Being a member of the family and close to some leading members, he had many documents to help him achieve his purpose. However, the information that really angered his uncles was his attempt to contact some credible key figures in the reform movement, which has significant public support, and then his remarks in some circles about his demand for political participation, accountability, transparency, and reform of the judiciary. His uncles thought that this development was devastating to them unless they nipped it in the bud.

Conspiracy to exploit diplomatic facilities

The planners of the kidnapping of Prince Sultan thought that the enormous facilities provided in Switzerland for the Saudi government during the visit of Prince Abdallah to attend the meeting of the eight countries in June provided a unique opportunity to carry out the kidnapping operation. The Swiss authorities provided facilities for the ruling family to bring in and take out any supplies, including weapons and …