title: JUST IN: Helicopter Crashes In Saudi Arabia KILLING 8 High-Ranking Officials Only One Day After Saudi King ARRESTS Trump-Hating Billionaire And Dozens More Cabinet Members
text: Zero Hedge   In a shocking development, late on Saturday the Saudi press reported that prominent billionaire, member of the royal Saudi family, and one of the biggest shareholders of Citi, News Corp. and Twitter   not to mention frequent CNBC guest   Al-Waleed bin Talal, along with ten senior princes, and some 38 ministers, has been arrested for corruption and money laundering charges on orders from the new anti-corruption committee headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while Royal princes  private planes have been grounded.Among those fired and/or arrested are the head of National Royal Guards, Miteb Bin Abdullah, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Adel Fakeih, and Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Sultan, the Commander of the Saudi Naval Forces.As the local press further adds, the supreme committee chaired by Crown Prince and billionaire stops  on charges of money laundering. al-Waleed bin Talal is perhaps best known not only for his periodic CNBC appearances, but for his recurring on and off spats with president Trump:According to al Arabiya, among those sacked and/or arrested are Moteib Bin Abdullah, Minister of the National Guard, and Prince Khalid bin Ayyaf has been appointed as his replacement. A second Royal Order was issued to relieve Minister of Economy and Planning, Adel al-Faqieh, from his duties, and the appointment of Mohammed Al Tuwaijri as Minister of Economy and Planning.According to a Royal Decree issued by King Salman on Saturday the anti-corruption committee is chaired by the Crown Prince with the membership of: Chairman of the Monitoring and Investigation Commission, Chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Authority, Chief of the General Audit Bureau, Attorney General and Head of State Security.As Saudi analysts were quick to point out, the purge by the Saudi King means that King Abdallah s last remnants (Riyad firmer gov. & head of Nat. Guard); media moguls; SAGIA & financial policy officials have been purged.As Bloomberg notes, changing the head of the National Guard, an institution that s been controlled by the clan of the late King Abdullah,  is not like changing the minister of oil,  said Kamran Bokhari, a senior analyst with Geopolitical Futures and a senior fellow with the Center for Global Policy.  I wouldn t be surprised if this leads to greater fissures within the royal family. Arabiya adds that King Salman also issued sacking and replacement orders for Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Sultan, the Commander of the Naval Forces, is to be terminated and be retired; his replacement is Vice Admiral Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Ghifaili, to be promoted to the rank of admiral and be appointed as Commander of the Naval Forces.Additionally, Minister of Economy and Planning Adel al-Faqieh was replaced by Mohammed al-Tuwaijri, SPA said, quoting a royal decree. Commander of the Saudi Navy, Abdullah al-Sultan, was replaced with Fahad al-Ghafli. The king also replaced Minister of Economy and Planning Adel Fakeih withMohammad Al Tuwaijri, his deputy.Sky News Arabia confirms an earlier report from Al-Watan news Newsletter: loss of a helicopter carrying a number of officials in the southern Asir, Saudi Arabia   Zero HedgeThis is allegedly the group boarding the chopper (unverified)  pic.twitter.com/OQZ4vFypc5  abo0o0dy.. (@AbduAseeri) November 5, 2017Details are few for now but some headlines report that the high-ranking officials aboard included Crown Prince Mansour bin-Muqrin, deputy Emir of Asir province.  # _ _ _    #      #            .. pic.twitter.com/vXa6kSuBsO          (@hrhpmmugrin) November 5, 2017There are sources saying all aboard have died      #  # _ _         .              . # _ _ _  pic.twitter.com/QvVkfItXTl        (@nazlah_com) November 5, 2017 