|
Former Saudi Spy Chief to Replace Bandar
July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, said it plans to appoint former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal as ambassador to the U.S., the kingdom's first change in the post since Ronald Reagan was president. The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced today that Prince Bandar bin Sultan resigned as Saudi envoy to Washington for ``private reasons'' after rendering ``outstanding services'' to the Arab country since 1983. Bandar cultivated deep access to the White House, including regular visits to the Bush family homes. Bandar, who is close to President George Bush, the current president's father, is a former Saudi Air Force officer who became defense attaché, then ambassador, following his involvement in procuring U.S. fighter aircraft in the late 1970s, according to his official embassy biography. He later became the dean of the diplomatic corps in Washington. Turki, who is ambassador to the U.K., was educated in Washington and has a history of working with the U.S. intelligence community. He will come to the U.S. as the Bush administration attempts to spread democracy in the oil-rich Middle East as a counter-weight to violent Islamist movements. Ned Walker, president of the Middle East Institute in Washington and a former U.S. diplomat, said in an interview that Bandar was a symbol of ``the close, warm, fuzzy ties with the administration. Turki is not that person and will not have that relationship.'' Turki, 60, met several times with Osama bin Laden in the context of Saudi support for Muslim fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He later mediated between the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the Saudi government. EFL Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-07-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=124542 |