Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.As the seventh child of the 25th son of the founder and first absolute monarch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman was not destined for the throne when he entered politics as a 24-year-old in 2009. But in the past decade this peripheral scion of the ruling dynasty has established himself as a central, towering figure, both at home — where he has been de facto leader as crown prince since 2017 — and on the world stage.A new two-part BBC documentary, The Kingdom: The World’s Most Powerful Prince, draws on the insights of biographers, journalists, diplomats, spies, confidants and dissidents to chart Prince Mohammed’s remarkable rise and to break down the multitude of facets of “MBS”.The first episode, which traces the period leading up to Prince Mohammed’s appointment as heir apparent to his father, ailing head of state King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has the makings of a prestige drama with its plots, political manoeuvres and power struggles within the extended royal family. But the claim by exiled former official Saad al-Jabri that Prince Mohammed forged his father’s signature on a royal decree sanctioning military interventions in Yemen in 2015 is both revelatory and potentially deeply damaging. (The Saudi authorities did not respond to a request for comment about this allegation.)The second episode discusses one of the darkest chapters of MBS’s rule — the brutal murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. While Prince Mohammed has repeatedly denied direct responsibility, with Riyadh blaming the killing on a rogue operation, the documentary considers why the international community, and the US in particular, has been hesitant in holding the Saudi regime to account over this and myriad other accusations of human rights abuse, press suppression and detentions.But this show is more than a catalogue of controversies. Alongside chilling allegations are reflections on how Prince Mohammed has loosened the religious orthodoxy’s grip on the country, granted more rights to women, diversified the economy and brought world-leading sport and record-breaking art acquisitions to entertain locals, entice tourists and distract everyone from the more unsavoury aspects of the regime.If across its two hours Kingdom paints a vivid portrait of a Machiavellian prince, it leaves us with a rather hazier image of who Prince Mohammed is outside of the public eye or political arena. If he was something of an unknown early in his career, the impression is that he is now unknowable, unpredictable — and all the more formidable for it.★★★★☆Episode one available on BBC iPlayer now. Episode two airs on BBC2 on August 26 at 9pm
