Saudi billionaire prince released from custody

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was released from detention on Saturday after more than two months in custody as part of the government's sweeping crackdown on corruption.

Bin Talal, one of the wealthiest men on the planet, has reportedly been cleared of wrongdoing and has returned to his family.

"He has he arrived home," a family member told the Reuters news agency.

The prince and hundreds of others were held at the posh Ritz-Carlton since early November. Many have already been released, according to bin Talal, but others remain in detention.

Bin Talal has reached a settlement with the government that appears to involve cash and/or assets, but no terms have been released.

"The attorney general this morning approved the settlement with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal," paving the way for his release, a source told news agencies.

In an exclusive interview with the Reuters on Friday, before his release, bin Talal insisted that his business record is clean. 

"There is nothing to do with inappropriate or appropriate," he said, speaking of the government’s corruption investigation. "Everything was appropriate."

Bin Talal insisted that there is no chance that he will go to prison but acknowledged he could pay a fine, which was couched as a "donation."

"We are in discussion with the government right now," the prince said. "I cannot give you access to the final discussion with them, but we are at the final stage of it."

Dubbed the Warren Buffet of Saudi Arabia, bin Talal is ranked in the top 50 of Forbes’ wealthiest people, with total reported assets of about $18 billion (€14.5 billion).

Not tortured

He rejected media reports that the Saudi government was seeking $6 billion worth of bin Talal's Kingdom Holding, the investment company that owns shares in numerous conglomerates, including Citigroup, Twitter and Lyft, the ride-sharing company. 

"All these are false," bin Talal said, referring to reports that the government is seeking vast sums of money or a stake in his business enterprise.    

Bin Talal also categorically rejected media reports elsewhere that he had been removed from the Ritz-Carlton and tortured, and insisted that government treated him fairly in detention.

"To me, they've been fair and honest, and I've been fair and honest with them," bin Talal said. "Saudi Arabia had corruption — there's no doubt about that. ... It's unfortunate that an anti-corruption person became mired in this whole thing, which is a fact that I accept." 

Bin Talal put the number of detainees at about 300 and said most were innocent and had been freed.

"The rest have settlements," bin Talal said, "but that's between them and the government."

The prince acknowledged that Saudi Arabia has a corruption problem, and said he supports government efforts to clean up the fraud. 

"In the last decade, a lot of money was wasted," bin Talal said. "Some members of government were involved in corruption," he added. "I think that it's healthy to weed them out and get Saudi Arabia clean and pure."

bik/rc (Reuters, AFP, dpa)