MbS 'forged king's signature' on Yemen war decree, former official says

A former Saudi official alleged in a report that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that launched the kingdom's years-long, stalemated war against Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations made without supporting evidence from Saad al-Jabri in an interview published on Monday by the BBC, though the kingdom described him as "a discredited former government official." Al-Jabri, a former Saudi intelligence official who lives in exile in Canada, has been in a yearslong dispute with the kingdom as his two children have been imprisoned in a case he describes as trying to lure him back to Saudi Arabia.

The allegation comes as Prince Mohammed now serves as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, often meeting leaders in place of his father, the 88-year-old King Salman. His assertive behaviour, particularly at the start of his ascension to power around the beginning of the Yemen war in 2015, extended to a wider crackdown on any perceived dissent or power base that could challenge his rule.

In al-Jabri's remarks to the BBC, he said a "credible, reliable" official linked to the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed that Prince Mohammed signed the royal decree declaring war in place of his father.

"We were surprised that there was a royal decree to allow the ground interventions," al-Jabri told the BBC. "He forged the signature of his dad for that royal decree. The king's mental capacity was deteriorating."

A US-based lawyer for al-Jabri did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Yemen war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, launched with promises by the prince it would quickly be over, has ground on for nearly a decade. The war has killed more than 150,000 people and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more. Prince Mohammed was the defence minister at the time.

The Houthis also, since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, have launched attacks on shipping that have disrupted traffic through the Red Sea — and led to the most intense combat faced by the US Navy since World War II.

Al-Jabri once worked for former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a trusted confidant of the US in the battle against al-Qaida militants in the kingdom after the 11 September 2001 attacks. King Salman replaced the crown prince for his son in 2017, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef is believed to have been held under house arrest after.

Al-Jabri had sued Prince Mohammed bin Salman in US federal court, alleging the crown prince sought to have him killed after he fled abroad.

Speaking to the BBC, al-Jabri again alleged Prince Mohammed considered assassinating former King Abdullah with a poison ring from Russia — something he claimed in a 2021 interview with CBS News. He also described his fears that the crown prince still wanted him killed as his children remained imprisoned in the kingdom.

"He planned for my assassination," al-Jabri told the BBC. "He will not rest until he sees me dead. I have no doubt about that."