What’s Behind Saudi Detention of Jordanian Billionaire?

Sources in the know have noted that the rich man traveled to Saudi Arabia after receiving a message from a close friend on the need for him to visit the Arab kingdom, which these days is witnessing a crackdown on the country’s wealthy royals.

“Masri was heading to the King Khalid International Airport and they told him to stay where you are and they picked him up,” the Reuters news agency reported, quoting a source familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.

Various Arab world’s news outlasts have compared al-Masri’s fate to that of the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri who announced his resignation for unknown reasons from Riyadh on November 4 after a trip to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of the Saudi regime and was forced to stay in the kingdom for two weeks, something the Lebanese President Michel Aoun labelled an “illegal detention”.

However, the detention of the Jordanian versatile tycoon, who is a Palestinian-Saudi-Jordanian citizen, did not take a long time. Within 48 hours, the media reported his release and return to Jordan.

This raises a question: Why did Saudi Arabia invite and then detain the influential Jordanian businessman.

Al-Masri, caught in crossfire of royal purge

Sabih al-Masri, 80, is one of the wealthiest Arab businessmen who owns a string of industrial groups, telecommunication firms, and financial institutions. He owns the financer Arab Bank with all of its branches in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and West Bank. He has the biggest hunting resort in the region, He also runs a major chain of hotels in Mecca. This is only part of the al-Masri’s publicized wealth.

Since the first hours of his arrest, the speculations swirled that this arrest, similar to those made at home against the moneyed royals, was meant to make money from this Arab billionaire. Last month, the government detained a large number of the Saudi billionaires as part of a purge ordered by the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman who claims is clamping down on the corruption. But some of the princes, like Mutaib bin Abdullah, were released after paying fines and allowing seizure of part of their wealth. This sweep turned out to be a state-operated extortion campaign led by bin Salman. At the time, the Bloomberg news agency suggested that the royal detentions will enable the regime to get $800 billion in benefit from the royal assets seizures. The claim was close to being demonstrable with a consideration of Saudi Arabian economic morass caused by low oil prices and the huge costs of the war waged three years ago against neighboring Yemen. Some news talked about the regime’s money-for-release offer to the rich princes and non-royal billionaires.

On the other hand, the detention of al-Masri was not a hard job having in mind that he carries three citizenships, including that of Saudi Arabia. Rai al-Youm, the London-based Arab language newspaper, has reported that the Saudi officials have responded to the Jordanian pursuit of the case, telling Amman that Riyadh will not allow the foreign meddling in the case, citing his Saudi citizenship as a reason. So, its likely that Masri's detention ended only after a behind-the-scene deal in style of the home princes.

Punishing Jordan

But there is in sight another scenario behind the al-Masri case, mainly related to the recent Palestinian developments.

When two weeks ago the American President Donald Trump recognized al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of the Israeli regime and talked of intention to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city of al-Quds, the Muslim world, both the governments and nations, rose in protest. Jordan, like many others, blasted Trump’s controversial decision. The Jordanian condemnation of the recognition started from highest state levels. King Abdullah II of Jordan released an official statement, warning over the embassy relocation and calling the measure unacceptable. This was not the end of Jordan’s anti-recognition actions. The king attended a meeting on al-Quds in Istanbul called for by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and supported the closing statement that rejected Trump’s move.

Jordan’s stance at the Istanbul urgent meeting of the members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation ran counter to that of Saudi Arabia. Rather, Amman supported a bitter Turkish tone against Tel Aviv. Saudi Arabia acted very passively when it came to the al-Quds controversy. It took its official position on the issue two days after Trump announcement, with low-ranking officials, and not King Salman himself, making statements. Some Saudi figures, though not in official state posts, made comments in defense of the American president’s action. These comments were significant because even unofficial figures cannon make remarks on such major cases without coordination with their rulers. Moreover, Saudi Arabia sent its foreign minister to Istanbul meeting, going against the course of other counties who participated with heads of state. This low-level representation apparently echoed al-Quds’ lack of priority in the Saudi strategy and that the Saudi leaders are at odds with other Muslim leaders in consideration of the case. But this standing is not that unnatural when it comes to the Saudi policy. Long before Trump raised the idea of capital recognition, the news reports had maintained that Tel Aviv and Riyadh established relations on the sly.

Jordan’s out-of-the-step al-Quds stance apparently did not appeal to the Saudi rulers. Amid this conflict of ideas, detention of the Jordanian billionaire sent a clear message to Amman leadership from Riyadh. Jordan is a follower of the regional Saudi agenda, and now such a relatively independent position of King Abdullah II on al-Quds case presents a challenge to the validity of the Saudi claims of Arab world leadership.

Pressuring Palestinians

There is another drive behind the arrest: It is the definite Saudi Arabian intention to put strains on the Palestinians. A hefty chunk of the Palestinian financial transactions, especially in West Bank, are made via the bank belonging to the Jordanian-Palestinian rich man al-Masri. Arab Bank has an unquestionable role in the Palestinian territories’ economy.

Recently, the Saudis have intensified pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestinian Authority to have him accede to the proposals of normalization with the Israeli regime. A month before Trump’s move, Abbas had visited Riyadh and met with King Salman. Sources familiar with the visit noted that Riyadh leaders submitted their proposal on Palestine to Abbas, who seemingly turned down the compromise suggestion.

Additionally, after the American president’s al-Quds announcement, sources said that the Saudi crown prince pressed the Palestinians to bow to the decision and step back from clinging to the idea that al-Quds is the capital of Palestine. The pressure was firmly resisted by the Palestinian Authority that rules West Bank. The attempt proved so pleasing to the Israelis that Yisrael Katz, the Israeli minister of intelligence, hailed the Saudi leaders and suggested that Riyadh becomes a peace mediator between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Despite all of the evidence of Saudi struggling to foist its agenda on the Palestinians, the Palestinian sides do not appear to have accepted any of the Saudi-sponsored modalities. It is now clear enough that even a compromiser Palestinian side such as Fatah movement refused to accept Riyadh proposals on al-Quds.

With the Palestinian opposition ongoing, it appears that detention of al-Masri was aimed at tightening the noose on the Palestinians using financial tools. This might trigger another theory: By detaining al-Masri, Saudi rulers wanted to put fiscal restrictions on Palestinians to wrest concessions from their leadership. Either way, it is yet to be clear what happened between Riyadh rulers and al-Masri.