Saudi Prince Alwaleed's brother freed amid Khashoggi pressure: Reports

Saudi authorities released the brother of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal after almost a year in detention, family members said on Saturday, as the kingdom faces international pressure over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The release of Prince Khalid bin Talal was confirmed by at least three relatives on Twitter. "Thank god for your safety," his niece, Princess Reem bint Alwaleed, tweeted, posting pictures of the released prince with relatives, AFP said.

The royal court appears to be seeking ways to shore up internal support as part of efforts to defuse its worst diplomatic crisis since the 9/11 attacks, when a majority of the attackers were Saudis. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has come under intense global pressure since the slaying of Khashoggi on 2 October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

"The leadership wants to show it wants to change and is taking some serious steps," a senior royal familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. "The release of Khalid is quite symbolic because he was arrested for going against the crown prince."

Still, the government has not offered any public explanation for his arrest or the conditions of his release.

Critics have accused bin Salman, also known as MBS, of being involved in Khashoggi's killing, though the Saudis have denied that he had any knowledge of the murder or its subsequent cover-up.

Instead, they have pointed the finger at several high-ranking officials, including a top aide to MBS, Saud al-Qahtani, who was recently sacked as part of Riyadh's investigation.

Khashoggi went to the consulate to retrieve paperwork for his pending marriage and never emerged from the building.

The Saudis' story has changed repeatedly since that time, with the country's public prosecutor saying last week that Khashoggi's killing was premeditated.

Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and then dismembered in the consulate, Turkish officials have told Middle East Eye, and a senior aide to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the journalist's body had been dissolved in acid.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Prince Khalid was detained for 11 months for criticising the crackdown on the kingdom's elite last November that saw dozens of princes, officials and tycoons detained at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The government labelled it a corruption crackdown, but critics said it was an attempt by MBS to sideline his potential rivals and consolidate power.

Prince Alwaleed, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia, was among those rounded up. He was released in early January after an undisclosed financial agreement with the government.

It appeared similar to deals that authorities struck with most other detainees in exchange for their freedom. 

Authorities could also potentially release other elite Saudis still in detention, including former Riyadh governor Prince Turki bin Abdullah and billionaire businessman Mohammed al-Amoudi, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"The killing of Jamal Khashoggi has left the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its weakest diplomatic position since the horrific terror attacks of September 11," Ali Shihabi, head of the pro-Saudi Arabia Foundation think-tank, wrote in a report published on Friday. 

"In the aftermath of the understandable global outrage at the Khashoggi murder, something will clearly have to give." 

Shihabi called for the release of "women activists and other moderate critics of the government" who have been detained in MBS's widely condemned crackdown on dissent in recent months.