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A senior Saudi prince has said he plans to form a political party and has criticised other senior royals for monopolising power and blocking reform.

Talal Bin Abdul-Aziz, a half-brother of King Abdullah, also criticised the jailing of well-known reformists.

Saudi officials made no immediate comment to Prince Talal's remarks.

The prince, who holds no official post, is seen as something of a maverick due to his past calls for reform, says BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy.

In the 1960s, he became known as the "Red Prince" when he broke with the ruling family and went into exile in Egypt, whose president, Gamal Abdul Nasser, was a severe critic of the Gulf kingdom.

But today, the prince is considered to be close to King Abdullah, who was seen as sympathetic to reform when he came to the throne two years ago.

Prince Talal is now trying, in a very public way, to test the limits of political change, our correspondent says.

source: news.bbc.co.uk