Ahmed Bin Abdelaziz: Eye of the storm?

The movements of King Salman’s youngest Sudairi brother, Prince Ahmed Bin Abdelaziz (born 1943), are being closely watched as the former deputy interior minister (1975-2012) and interior minister (2012) is again mentioned in dispatches as a potential rival to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and Al-Salman domination of Saudi political life. Prince Ahmed has remained a model of discretion, but is seen to have the weight necessary to provide a challenge, despite being sidelined in recent years; the early stages of MBS’s rise coincided with Ahmed’s losing out in the succession stakes.