Prince Salman’s right hand men the royal family fears

Two men with little to no qualifications, Saud el-Qahtani (40), and Turki al-Sheikh (37), are the loyal puppets of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), according to an article published by the New York Times.

Qahtani, who is the aide of the crown prince, and Sheikh, the Kingdom’s sports commissioner, are the “closest people to the crown prince,” and played significant roles in carrying out their master’s bidding in his shocking power plays.

“The ouster of the previous crown prince, the detentions of royals and businessmen in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, the kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister, and the kingdom’s diplomatic spats with Qatar and Canada,” were all headed by these two men, the article titled “Behind a Saudi Prince’s Rise, Two Loyal Enforcers,” states.

“Even Saudi royals have come to fear the prince’s two friends.”

Now, the heads of these two men may be on the chopping block to save the prince’s name, which has been dragged through the mud during the past month over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered at the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Turkey’s Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Khashoggi had previously told Newsweek that MBS “does not have political advisers except Turki al-Sheikh and Saud al-Qahtani.”

“They are very thuggish. People fear them. You challenge them, you might end up in prison,” said Khashoggi, who was a critic of Prince Salman.

Both these “loyal enforcers” were educated inside the Kingdom with meager experience abroad.

Qahtani has already been sacked due to the rhetoric toward the kingdom’s critics that led to Khashoggi’s death, said a Saudi official, while Sheikh is laying low.

Saudi Arabia, after weeks of denying the journalist’s murder, said that he had died in a botched up interrogation. It later changed its story after evidence came to light showing that the murder was premeditated. It also said it had arrested 18 people—15 of whom are Saudi agents who were at the consulate on the same day as Khashoggi--, who are involved in the killing.

Neither is among the 18 people Saudi Arabia said it arrested regarding the probe investigating Khashoggi’s murder.

Turkey has shared recordings related to the killing of Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with its Western allies.

Last month two separate intelligence sources said that Qahtani gave orders over Skype to Khashoggi's killers at the consulate. More recently, a government source familiar with the matter said Qahtani featured prominently throughout the recordings.

Khashoggi's murder has provoked global outrage but little concrete action by major powers against Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and a strong proponent of U.S. policy to contain Iranian influence across the Middle East.