The Saudi Authorities arrested Prince Bandar bin Sultan as a part of the anti-corruption” purge that was launched by Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, according to a report of the Middle East Eye (MEE) online news portal.

Prince Bandar is a former Saudi ambassador to the US, and he is known to be a friend of former US President George W Bush, and former Syrian president Hafez Assad. Prince Bandar became really famous in 2011 when he was tasked with leading the Saudi efforts to fight Syria president Bashar al-Assad.

Prince Bandar quickly became known as “the engineer of the Syria war” after he organized everything about the war, from the political opposition to armed groups in Syria. According to many reports the Prince was behind shipping tons of weapons and thousands of Jihadists from all over the world to feed the war against the Syrian government.

“The engineer of the Syrian war” went to great length while trying to remove Bashar al-Assad, he was accused of founding the al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda branch in Syria) and even ISIS later. The prince even offered Russia a bribe to stop supporting Assad back in 2013.

Prince Bandar is the brother of Salman bin Sultan Al Saud who ordered the Free Syrian Army to attack the Syrian capital Damascus back in 2013 according to leaked NSA document.

Because of his crooked ways that have no limits and after ISIS raise in 2014, Prince Bandar was removed from his position as the main planner of the battle against Assad. Bandar was replaced by Prince Muhammad bin Nayef and Prince Mohammad bin Salman himself.

The two reportedly suspended many of the operations, which were planned by Bandar, and engaged in a direct dialogue with Russia in what appears to be an effort to hide Saudi Arabia’s role in supporting terrorist groups in Syria.

If Saudi officials confirm the arrest of Prince Bandar, it could be a sign that the new Saudi leadership led by the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is willing to make radical changes in the Saudi Arabia polices regarding Syria. Or, it’s just another sign of the sky-high tensions within the Saudi leadership.

Featured image is from South Front.