Young Saudi prince holds power beyond his years

Saudi Arabia’s hard-charging Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman holds unusual power for a man of just 30, so much so that diplomats have nicknamed him “Mr Everything”.
The key figure behind yesterday’s unveiling of a vast plan to restructure the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy, the son of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has risen to among Saudi Arabia’s most influential figures since being named second-in-line to the throne last year.
Prince Mohamed, seen as the standard-bearer for a new generation of Saudi royals, is in charge not only of the country’s economic policy but also the military as defence minister.
The prince has amassed “extraordinary power and influence very quickly” since his father took the throne last year after the death of King Abdullah, said Frederic Wehrey of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
“He’s clearly very bright, very intelligent, very on top of all his briefs” and has significant influence on the 80-year-old monarch, one Western diplomat said.
Among his key positions is as chair of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, set up last year to oversee the economy. Mohamed also chairs a body overseeing state oil giant Saudi Aramco.
As defence minister the prince has spearheaded the kingdom’s military intervention in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition 13 months ago launched air strikes against Iran-backed rebels in support of the embattled government.
In a profile and interview released earlier this month, Bloomberg Businessweek said the prince works 16-hour days.
It was the latest interview in which the prince has spoken at length about economic plans for the kingdom.
A law graduate from Riyadh’s King Saud University, the prince is the father of two boys and two girls.
While Mohammed has been careful not to challenge Saudi Arabia’s traditions and powerful clerics, some in the country hope he will be a social reformer.
Mohamed spent years working for his father when he was governor of Riyadh and from 2013 after Salman was named crown prince.