(This is Muhammad bin Salman the crown prince of SA)

"Prince Miteb, the preferred son of the late King Abdullah, was once thought to be a leading contender for the throne before the unexpected rise of Prince Mohammed two years ago.

He had inherited control of the National Guard, an elite internal security force built out of traditional tribal units, from his father, who ran it for five decades.

Prince Miteb was the last remaining member of Abdullah’s branch of the family to hold a position in the upper echelons of the Saudi power structure.

The move consolidates Crown Prince Mohammed’s control of the kingdom’s security institutions, which had long been headed by separate powerful branches of the ruling family.

Prince Mohammed, the king’s 32-year-old son, already serves as defense minister and was named heir to the throne in a June reshuffle that sidelined his older cousin, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef who had also served as interior minister." Reuters

---------------

IMO what we are seeing here is the consolidation of power within the Salman branch of the Sudairi side of the Saudi royal family.

These people are descendants of abd al-aziz al-saud, the creator of Saudi Arabia as a family owned "executive monarchy." They are all rivals (or potential political allies) in a giant family cousinage of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of the Wahhabi ruler of Najd who emerged from the desert to seize control of most parts of the Arabian Peninsula. There are thousands of people in the Family.

There are other important figures in the nomenklatura of Saudi Arabia but at root if you are not "family," you are not.

The present king, Salman has appointed his 32 year old son to be his successor as king. This man, Muhammad bin Salman (pictured above) has a vision of of Saudi Arabia as being the hegemon of the ME with influence that reaches beyond its money and political skullduggery. He sees SA as ally and mentor of both Israel and the US and Iran as principal obstacle to achievement of his dream. Saad Hariri's flight into the crown prince's embrace is well timed to help weld together the anti-Shia coalition. Velayati's visit to Beirut was a great excuse for his move.

IMO this purge is intended to achieve the intimidation or removal of those who are the crown princes' rivals on the secular side of Saudi society. Mit'ab bin Abdullah was the head of SANG, a non MODA armed force for decades. Bin Talal is a major financial power in the world.

If there is not a successful coup against the crown prince in the next days, his follow up move will probably be to purge the Shia clergy of the Eastern Province. pl

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-cabinet/saudi-king-sacks-top-ministers-gives-more-power-to-crown-prince-idUSKBN1D40U2