one of saudi arabia s former top intelligence officials has described the country s de facto ruler, crown prince mohammed bin salman, as a psychopath . sa ad al jabri claims the crown prince suggested he could assassinate the country s former king abdullah. we can speak now to our security correspondent frank gardner. iam i am interested in your thoughts about how credible this man is. he is a controversial figure. about how credible this man is. he is a controversialfigure. he about how credible this man is. he is a controversial figure. he was at the top of the saudi intelligence, the top of the saudi intelligence, the architect of saudi arabia s counterterrorism strategy that helped defeat al-qaeda and it was the cia s main point of contact in saudi arabia he was. as a part of that he tipped off britain and the us about the printer ink toner cartridge bombs in 2010 when al-qaeda smuggled these bombs on board inside ink tonerfor printers,
strands of the government counterterrorism strategy that aims to steer people away from the path of radicalisation and extremism. it is not always successful. he did not spend long on it and as of last week, i am told, he was not on mis s watch lists. he was not on the list of subjects of interest. it was not a clean skin exactly but there is a suspicion he would have been self radicalised, potentially, by what you saw during lockdown. what he saw in lockdown. there is no evidence on this and we have to keep an open mind and not say anything that could be prejudicial to his trial. that could be pre udicialto his trial. ., ., . ., , trial. you touched on it there but i wonder the trial. you touched on it there but i wonder the significance trial. you touched on it there but i wonder the significance of - trial. you touched on it there but i wonder the significance of the - trial. you touched on it there but i wonder the significance of the fact he was on the counterterrorism prog
an upstanding member of the community, and is totally horrified and shocked at what his son is alleged to have done. we also know that the suspect was referred some years ago to a counter radicalisation programme in the uk called prevent. it is one of the strands of the government counterterrorism strategy that aims to steer people away from a path of radicalisation and extremism. it is not always successful. he did not spend long on it and, as of last week, i am told, he was not on any of the security service mi5 s watch lists. he was not on a list of subjects of interest. he was not a clean skin, exactly, but there is a suspicion he would have been self radicalised, potentially, by what he saw during lockdown. but there is no evidence on this and we have to keep an open mind and not say anything that could be
these two addresses, they are saying they don t believe they are looking for another suspect. the uk s history of battling against terrorism has been deep. you mentioned prevent strategy, the uk s counterterrorism strategy, you ve even said as comprehensive as that can be, it can only go so far. we ve seen a shift over the past 15 years, as you know, paula. in 2005, the terrorist attacks in london, seven seven. that was a coordinated attack with groups that were organized. that wasn t so easy. that doesn t happen anymore. what we are seeing now are these
they re searching these two addresses, it doesn t believe there is another. look, peter, the history in the uk runs deep, and police while they might be heartened by the fact that he acted alone. you ve been covering this for the better part of 15 years, you mentioned that prevent strategy, that s the uk s counterterrorism strategy. you yourself have spoken that can only go so far. what elements do you think would have been so difficult to grasp for the uk and law enforcement? well, we ve seen a shift in the past years as note, paula, when we had 2005, the terrorist attacks in london, 7 of 7, that was a coordinated attack with you talk about groups that were organized in a radical fashion, that isn t so easy anymore. that doesn t happen anymore in the uk. what we re seeing now are these