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Rabih Alenezi, a Saudi colonel who defected after criticizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photo/YouTube via MEE
RIYADH – A man Arab Saudi confessed to being a colonel in the General Directorate of Public Security who had defected after harshly criticizing the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) .
The man claimed his name was Colonel Rabih Alenezi. Without mentioning his current location, Alenezi, via Twitter, heavily criticized Vision 2030 launched by MBS.
But his Twitter account has been suspended. Middle East Eye (MEE), which carried out the verification, called its Twitter account trustworthy.
In a video posted this week, Colonel Rabih Alenezi said he was leaving office because of dangerous violations of human rights and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reckless policies and political indiscretion.
On Twitter, he expressed concern over the level of enforced disappearances in the Kingdom and said that the crown prince’s strategy to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy, Vision 2030, had been disastrous.
He also retweeted posts about two young members of the Howeitat tribe, thousands of whom are reported to have been displaced without adequate compensation or alternative housing, to make way for the $500 billion NEOM megaproject.
One of his last tweets before the suspension of his account asked where the body of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was.
His YouTube page, including four long videos posted in the last week, remains open.
Twitter, which has reportedly disbanded its press team, did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
