A former Saudi official on Monday alleged that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged his father’s signature on the royal decree that launched the kingdom’s years-long, stalemated war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia did not respond to questions over the allegations made without supporting evidence by Saad al-Jabri in a BBC interview first published on Monday. Al-Jabri later acknowledged the allegations separately in detail in a statement to The Associated Press. The kingdom has described al-Jabri as “a discredited former government official”.

Al-Jabri, a former major general and intelligence official who lives in exile in Canada, has been in a long dispute with the kingdom as his two children have been imprisoned in a case he describes as an attempt to lure him back to Saudi Arabia. Al-Jabri also alleges that the crown prince wants him assassinated.

“I am not a dissident, nor did I put myself in this situation by choice,” al-Jabri told the AP. “I was a high-ranking Saudi official who dedicated himself to safeguarding his country, recognised for saving thousands of Saudi and Western lives. Now I am a father doing everything possible to secure the release of his children.”

His allegation comes as Prince Mohammed serves as Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, often meeting leaders in place of his father, 88-year-old King Salman.

Prince Mohammed’s assertive behaviour, particularly early in his ascension to power around the beginning of the Yemen war in 2015, has extended to a wider crackdown on any perceived dissent or power base that could challenge his rule.