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A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 11 November 2017
Report: IS leader may be in eastern Syrian city of Boukamal

By B. MROUE allies recaptured this week again on Friday. a caliphate in June 2014. operations in Boukamal,
Associated Press before losing parts of it lat- The whereabouts of al- Al-Baghdadi’s where- they “got the information”
BEIRUT (AP) — A media out- er. Baghdadi are not known abouts and the question that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
let linked to the Syrian mili- The claim was denied by and if he is killed or cap- of whether he is dead or might be “in one of the
tary said Friday that the Is- Syrian opposition activists tured it would be another alive have been a continu- pockets” in the town. The
lamic State group’s leader who said the government blow for the organization ing source of mystery and report did not elaborate
may be holed up in an IS is trying to make up for that has lost more than 90 confusion. The Syrian Cen- on how the soldiers heard
pocket in the eastern town losses it suffered in Bouka- percent of lands it once tral Military Media said that, about al-Baghdadi or what
of Boukamal, which gov- mal when large parts were controlled in Iraq and Syria as Syrian troops and their they were doing about the
ernment forces and their retaken by the extremists where the group declared allies conducted search information.q
Saudi arrest of Binladin family scion shatters royal entente

MBS, is leading the anti- in the immediate boon
corruption investigation. years after oil was discov-
He’s also the force behind ered in Saudi Arabia.
the so-called Vision 2030 As the royal family spent
plan, a blueprint for how lavishly on trips abroad
to restructure the country and new palaces at home,
and wean it from its depen- the Binladins became their
dence on oil revenue. creditors, as well as con-
The arrests of Binladin and tractors. Reliable and dis-
the others not only signal creet, the Binladin Group
the end of old alliances, would go on to build con-
but also speak to the larger fidential defense projects
demands being made on in the kingdom, as well as
the business community to landmark skyscrapers, uni-
pay into the crown prince’s versities, a military hospital,
economic vision in an era an airport, a financial dis-
of lower oil prices. trict and much more.
“This is the beginning of the Run as a private company
rise of economic national- by members of the large
ism,” said Ayham Kamel, Binladin family, the firm is
head of the Middle East no stranger to political up-
and North Africa division of heaval and changes in the
In this Sept. 13, 2016 file photo, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers with the four-faced clocks stands over the the Eurasia Group. kingdom. In fact, part of its
holy Kaaba, as Muslims encircle it inside the Grand Mosque, during the hajj pilgrimage, in Mecca, A centerpiece of that plan success has been in its abil-
Saudi Arabia. A decades-old alliance between the ruling Al Saud and the Binladin family secured is NEOM, a $500 billion proj- ity to adapt to the whims of
the latter’s near-monopoly on major expansion work in Mecca and Medina. The reported arrest
on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017 of Bakr Binladin, who was Osama bin Laden’s half brother and chairman ect that promises to be the kings and princes.
of the expansive Saudi Binladin Group, signals the end of the Al Saud-Binladin family alliance. world’s most futuristic and “The Binladins were able
(AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) technologically-advanced to remain essential to the
By AYA BATRAWY decades-old alliance be- $100 billion in graft and em- city, which was unveiled royal family despite very
Associated Press tween the ruling Al Saud bezzlement. by the crown prince at a dramatic events within the
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- and Binladin families that Saudi critics and experts headline-grabbing global royal family,” said Steve
ates (AP) — Among those saw the Saudi Binladin have called the arrests a investment conference in Coll, author of “The Bin Lad-
caught in the unprec- Group secure a near-mo- bold and risky move by Saudi Arabia last month. ens: An Arabian Family in
edented arrests this week nopoly on mega-expan- Crown Prince Mohammed But instead of receiving the American Century.”
of top princes, wealthy sion projects in Islam’s two bin Salman aimed at con- major pledges to the proj- The Binladins were also no
businessmen and senior holiest sites, Mecca and solidating power as he side- ect by Saudi business lead- strangers to controversy.
officials was the scion of Medina, throughout the lines potential rivals, silenc- ers, MBS “got deafening si- They weathered the blow
one of Saudi Arabia’s most reigns of successive Saudi es critics and dismantles lence”, Kamel said. to the family name and
recognizable families: Bakr monarchs. The government alliances built with other Since the 1950’s, the Binla- reputation after the 9/11
Binladin, the chairman of says 201 people have been branches of the royal fam- dins have been the royal attacks in New York mas-
the kingdom’s pre-eminent taken into custody in the ily. The 32-year-old crown family’s go-to contractor terminded by Osama bin
contractor — and Osama purge, which comes amid prince, who is the son of for some of its most sensi- Laden, a son of family pa-
bin Laden’s half-brother. an anti-corruption probe King Salman and is popu- tive projects, including con- triarch Mohammed Binla-
It was a stunning end to a it says uncovered at least larly known by his initials struction of private palaces din. q

After IS collapse, Syria government faces US-backed Kurds

By SARAH EL DEEB fields and strategic territory absence of a clear Ameri- a clash there. The Kurdish- the troops of Syrian Presi-
Associated Press in the country’s north and can policy. led SDF also controls some dent Bashar Assad and
BEIRUT (AP) — With the fall east. There are already signs. of Syria’s largest oil fields, Iranian-backed militiamen.
of the Islamic State group’s The complicated map puts Iran threatened last week in the oil-rich eastern Deir Washington seems to be
last significant stronghold in U.S. and Iranian forces at that Syrian troops will ad- el-Zour province, an essen- hoping to negotiate a deal
Syria, Iranian and Russian- close proximity, just across vance toward Raqqa, the tial resource that the Syrian for Syria that would protect
backed Syrian troops now the Euphrates River from former IS capital, which fell government also says it will the Kurds’ ambitions for au-
turn to face off with their each other, amid multiple to the U.S.-backed Syrian take back. The question tonomy while limiting Iran’s
main rival, the U.S.-backed hotspots that could turn Democratic Forces in Octo- now is whether the United ambitions for a presence in
forces holding large oil violent, particularly in the ber, raising the potential for States is willing to confront Syria. q