Credit: Asia Times
By Pepe Escobar
Was Prince Bandar “Bush”, 63, son of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz (perennial Saudi Defense Minister,1963-2001), semi-perennial ambassador to Washington (1983-2005), and secretive jihad financier, killed by a Syrian intelligence death squad? Thunderous silence prevails on Syrian, Iranian and Arab media (most of it controlled by the Saudis). The same applies for al-Jazeera. This is DEBKA’s somewhat fanciful take. Dates are crucial. Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud may have pulled off operation “Damascus Volcano” on July 18. He was definitely promoted to head of Saudi intelligence on July 19. And he might have been killed in a bomb attack on the Saudi General Intelligence HQ in Riyadh on July 22. One Syrian rumor mill version rules that “Damascus Volcano” came from Saudi intel – with logistics provided by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This is highly unlikely; the CIA is clueless on how to penetrate Assad’s inner sanctum. The predominant version circulating in the Syrian capital is this was a white coup.
“Damascus Volcano”, by the way, was a flop; the swarm of mercenaries – infiltrated via Jordan – who were supposed to take over the capital had to retreat up north. Now the news cycle is fixated on another faux game-changer – the “Battle of Aleppo”. There are serious problems with all the spin around “Damascus Volcano”. None of the Assad regime’s four heads of military intelligence were killed – they are actually running the (ghastly) show in Aleppo. There are also problems with a Syrian death squad being able to strike Riyadh’s inner sanctum. But Iranian intelligence could certainly pull this off. As for Debka’s assumption that Tehran may have hired al-Qaeda jihadis for an inside job against the House of Saud, that is rubbish.
Categories: Asia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria
If Pricne Bandar is really killed will be a great set back to Saudi Monarch effort to rule the Middle East.
Interesting, but let’s wait and see. I would not think that someone like Prince Bandar would go ‘to the front line’, but let’s wait whether he turns up again.
No major Newspapers or Press Agencies report this yet. But here is another link:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/368685/20120731/prince-bandar-bin-sultan-saudi-spy-chief.htm
Pepe Escobar is considered to be well informed journalist and Asia Times also has credibility. But still one can wait. Yous link also suggests in same direction except for dates either 22 or 26th of July-2012.