GENEVA, Switzerland, May 22 (UPI) -- A Saudi prince on Thursday called for investigating alleged corruption and embezzlement by Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz who supervises the kingdom's $50-billion strategic oil reserve program.
Prince Sultan bin Turki bin Abdel Aziz al-Saud, who is based in Geneva and recently established the Saudi Royal Political Authority, demanded the formation of a neutral committee to investigate corruption in the operations of the program.
In a statement released to United Press International, Prince Sultan accused the defense minister and his followers of exploiting their posts for their own benefit. He called for stopping embezzlement and "stealing of the nation's wealth."
The defense minister, one of King Fahd's seven brothers, is "the oldest and most corrupt" minister in the world while "his army is in a weak state," he said. The 75-year-old minister is also the father of Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdel Aziz, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.
The Geneva-based prince called for the outright canceling of the strategic reserve program, saying oil-rich Saudi Arabia -- unlike net oil importers such as the United States -- had no need for a stash of oil to protect against shortages during times of crisis.
"All Western and Saudi military and civilian experts, including those of the Saudi Aramco company, made clear that there is no need for such a program because it was not in harmony with the oil technique in the Saudi Kingdom, its geography or defense strategy," he declared. "What has been stolen from the strategic program could have been enough to build a strong army with hundreds of thousands combatants and to secure jobs for no less than a million citizens."
But Sultan bin Turki expanded his target beyond the strategic reserve by adding that the kingdom's main mistakes were the "prevailing corruption in principal sectors such as the Saudi Armed forces under the command of the Defense Ministry."
He deplored "silence over a series of theft and looting" as "terrifying prototypes of corruption" that "will result in losing confidence in the government institutions and exposing the fate of the country and ruling family to an unknown future. ... The need for reform is completely clear" in the face of growing corruption and unemployment, he said.
