By Baron Henri Estramant.
The world’s formerly longest serving minister of foreign affairs, the late Prince Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, or rather colloquially known as Saud al-Faisal passed away in the USA on Thursday, 9 July 2015 at age 75.
Prince Saud al-Faisal had been relieved of his post as chief of Saudi diplomacy at his own behest by King Salman in April 2015 after serving since October 1975. He had long suffered from back pain and Parkirson’s disease. He was succeeded as chief of diplomacy by Adel Al Jubeir, hitherto royal Saudi ambassador to the USA.
Prince Saud, a son of King Faisal, was born in 1940 in the mountain city of Taif near Makkah where, in 1989, he helped Saudi Arabia negotiate the agreement that ended Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.
A graduate from Princeton in the 1960s he was posted for years at the Petroleum Ministry. His diplomatic career began with trauma: King Khalid appointed him foreign minister because of the assassination of Prince Saud’s father King Faisal, who had retained the foreign affairs portfolio after acceding the throne in 1962.
Prince Saud’s body arrived on Saturday morning at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah from the US. It was thereafter taken to Al Adel Cemetery in Makkah for burial and funeral prayers led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman.
Minister of State, HRH Prince Khalid al-Faisal, Adviser to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah, shall receive mourners at his Jeddah palace for three days.
Delegations from Gulf states attended the burial service. The Emirati delegation was led by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Amir of Abu Dhabi’s Representative in the Western Region, and Deputy Prime Minister HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior. Other UAE dignitaries who attended included HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, HE Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Rashid Al Nuaimi, former foreign minister.
Bahrain was represented by Deputy Premier HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa and Foreign Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. Kuwait’s delegation was led by the country’s Amir, HH Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Ali Al Sabah, but also included First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al Sabah and the Director of the Amir’s Office, Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al Sabah.
Qatar was represented by its Deputy Amir, HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani as well as its Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.
His Majesty The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, sent his condolences to his Saudi counterpart, and regretted the lost of a “brother”.
Other mourners included Foreign Minister of Turkey, Jawish Ihsanoglu, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan, Nasser Judeh, Abdul Qadir Bin Saleh, Speaker of the Algerian Parliament, accompanied by his country’s foreign minister, Ramtane Lamamra and the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Abdullatif bin Rashid Zayani.
For more information
King Faisal Foundation: www.kff.com/
Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs: www.mofa.gov.sa
