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A little Saudi profiling

1974 Time "Man of the Year"
Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki Al Saud
'King Faisal' to you and me.

So, just who is this guy?

- Descended from Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab and Ibn Saud, the founders of the modern 'House of Saud"

- November 2 1964, Ascended to the throne after his brother abdicated to exile in Greece, due his his bankrupting the Saudi government.

- October 17, 1973 Faisal withdraws Saudi oil from world markets, quadrupling the price. Faisal's action was the primary force behind the 1973 energy crisis.

- On March 25, 1975, Faisal was shot point blank and killed by his half brother's son Faisal bin Musad, who had just come back from the United States. The assassination occurred at a Majlis, an event where the king or leader opens up his residence to the citizens to enter and ask him questions.

The King recognized his nephew and bent his head forward, so that the younger Faisal bin Musad could kiss the king's nose, in a sign of respect. Rather, Faisal bin Musad drew a pistol and shot his uncle in the face numerous times while claiming vengeance for his brother Khaled. Khaled was killed by Saudi Security troops in 1966 during a protest against the introduction of television. He was known to be a religious Islamic fundamentalist who was upset at depictions of Islam on Television. Faisal bin Musad was immediately captured, while the king was rushed to a hospital and treated by an American doctor, but it was to no avail, as two bullets shot at point blank range killed him.

Prince Faisal Bin Musad was declared officially insane. He was later found guilty of regicide and in June 1975 he was beheaded in the public square in Riyadh.

It is interesting to note that the fact that while his brother was killed during a protest to keep depictions of Islam off of television, Faisal Bin Musads assassination of the King and his execution were all covered on live television.

So who is Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki Al Saud or "King Faisal" as we call him?

- The guy who argued for the removal of support of the United States due to its support of the creation of the state of Israel in 1947.

- The guy who started the first "Oil Crisis" of the 1970s.

Oh yeah, he's also the father of Turki bin Faisal al-Saud, the recent"Runaway Ambassador". We called him King, but Turki called him "father".

Tonight, the word around the campfire is that Ambassador Turki and the "Famous Prince Bandar" are "having words". So now I have to go find out more about this Bandar fellow and his background just to try to make sense of which side is trying to knife which side in the back.

It would appear at first blush that Bandar outranks Turki in the hierarchy of Princes. It is also interesting to note that Bandars father is Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, the Minister of Defence and Aviation since 1962. His brother is Prince Khalid bin Sultan a Saudi general in the 1991 Gulf War.

So, my gut tells me that the profile of these two guys is starting to look like this:

Turki - Intelligence, skullduggery, 'shadow warrior', Mr. inside-outski. On the unfavored 'Richard III' side of the family tree, perhaps he even wants to change the order to the throne a bit to get even for what happened to "old pops"?

Bandar - Military, Statesman, On the favored side of the family tree.

Hmmm...

It would seem that the Saudis may also be having some trouble getting their intelligence services to agree with their government and military.

More to follow...

Posted @ December 14, 2006 11:14 PM | Current Affairs