A former official has alleged that Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman faked the signature of his father in the royal decree, declaring ground offensive against the Houthis in Yemen.
The revelations in a BBC interview were made by Saad al-Jabri, whom Saudi Arabia has referred to as a "discredited former government official."
Al-Jabri has been living in exile in Canada while his children have been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. The former intelligence official claims that his teen children, Omar and Sarah, were nabbed in a fake money laundering case to force him to return to the kingdom.
Al-Jabir said the White House warned him that the US would back only an air offensive but MBS ignored them and forged the royal signature as the king's mental capacity was deteriorating.
Al-Jabri had worked as a Saudi official for four decades and was the chief of staff for the former Crown Prince Muhammed bin Nayef. When MBS took over, he fled the country after a foreign intelligence agency tipped him about the potential danger.
Later MBS offered him a job, but Al-Jabri told BBC that it was a bait. "And I didn't bite," he said. "He planned for my assassination. He will not rest until he sees me dead, I have no doubt about that."
