UAE Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan’s chief hitman in the region Mohammad Dahlan threw vicious accusations at Yeni Şafak daily after the newspaper exposed his dirty plots.
Yeni Şafak on Monday published a report based on various sources stating that Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were preparing to blame Dahlan for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Yeni Şafak stated that Dahlan was hospitalized in Dubai with “a broken neck,” following a brawl that broke out on a luxury yacht in the oil-rich emirate after Dahlan refused to become the new “scapegoat” for the murder.
Mohammed Dahlan, the former security chief for the Palestinian Authority who is also known as the “hitman” of the Middle East, was the main mediator between the UAE government and an assassination squad in Yemen.
Reporter Sami Kemal, who has close ties to Egyptian intelligence circles, confirmed Yeni Şafak’s report and also said that Israel had invited Dahlan to Tel Aviv for treatment. Kemal claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened in order to “save” Dahlan.
When such reports spread across the Arab world, Dahlan could not handle the pressure and proceeded to attack Yeni Şafak, saying the publication was a “terror ally” while speaking to Al Arabiya Al-Hadath in a televised interview.
Dahlan claimed that Yeni Şafak attacked Salman, Zayed and Egyptian Presiden Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with “fake news,” and added that these leaders would stay in power for five decades.
“Rumors circulated by the Turkish media to sabotage Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Brace yourselves… bin Salman will remain in power for the next 50 years unless we witness a divine intervention.”
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in early October.
After initially saying he had left the consulate alive, Saudi Arabia admitted weeks later that he was killed there, blaming his death on a group of rogue Saudi operatives.
Khashoggi’s murder has tarnished the Saudi crown prince’s reputation, deepening questions among Western allies and some Saudis about his leadership.
A group of the U.S. senators introduced a resolution on Wednesday urging the U.S. government to hold the crown prince accountable for a number of actions, including the Khashoggi killing and contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
“They threaten the Middle East’s stability. Their reporting about Palestine, Libya, Iraq and Syria supports terror and they will be held to account,” Dahlan said, referring to Yeni Şafak.
“I am not affected by rumors, and I am not intimidated, but rather I am taking advantage of these rumors. It is a skill that I learned from the late leader Yasser Arafat,” said Dahlan, who felt the need to take to TV to deny that he was not physically assaulted by a Dubai gang that coincided with the visit of bin Salman.
The Palestinian hitman also continued his tirade on Twitter. Figures close to him commented on his tweets threatening Yeni Şafak Editor-In-Chief İbrahim Karagül and reporter Yılmaz Bilgen.
