A former intelligence official accused Bin Salman of forging the king's signature to start a war against the Houthis.

A former Saudi official claims in a report that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged his father's signature on a royal decree that began the kingdom's long-running war against the Houthis in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the unsubstantiated allegations made by Saad al-Jabri in an interview published by the BBC on Monday, although the kingdom described him as a “discredited former government official.”

Al-Jabri, a former Saudi intelligence officer living in exile in Canada, has been at loggerheads with the kingdom for years since his two children were detained, a move he describes as an attempt to lure him back to Saudi Arabia.

The accusation comes as Prince Mohammed now serves as Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, often meeting with politicians in place of his father, 88-year-old King Salman. His assertive behavior, particularly early in his rise to power around the start of the war in Yemen in 2015, has expanded into a broader crackdown on any perceived dissent or power base that might challenge his rule.

In his remarks to the BBC, al-Jabri said a “credible, reliable” official from the Saudi Interior Ministry had confirmed to him that Prince Mohammed had signed the royal decree declaring war on behalf of his father.

“We were surprised that there is a royal decree allowing ground intervention. He forged his father's signature for this royal decree. The king's mental abilities deteriorated,” Al-Jabri said.

Al-Jabris United States (U.S.)The London-based lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The war against the Hutu, which began with the prince's promise that it would be over quickly, has now lasted for almost a decade. The war has claimed the lives of over 150,000 people and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more. Prince Mohammed was defence minister at the time.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have also launched attacks on ships, disrupted traffic through the Red Sea – and led to the fiercest fighting in the United States..S. The Navy has struggled with many problems since World War II, writes Klix.ba.

E.Dz.