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Riyadh's new envoy
just the US ticket
By Giuseppe
Anzera
At the end of July, Saudi Arabia's
ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin
Sultan, handed in his resignation. During the 22
years in which he held this position, he managed
to exert undisputable influence over successive US
administrations. However, his replacement appears
equally capable: the next  Saudi ambassador to
Washington will be Prince Turki al-Faisal.
Born on February 15, 1945 (the very day on
which King Abdul Aziz al-Saud and US President
Franklin Roosevelt met on board the USS Quincy and
agreed on the "enduring relationship" that has
linked the United States and Saudi Arabia up to
the present day), at age 14 Turki was sent to
boarding school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He
subsequently enrolled at Georgetown University in
the same year as future president Bill Clinton,
but left before graduating and then completed his
studies by obtaining a degree from Oxford,
England. His father, King Faisal, had reigned over
Saudi Arabia from 1964 until his murder in 1975.
Prince Turki's career has been pursued mostly
within the General Intelligence Directorate (GID),
Riyadh's main intelligence service, which he
headed from 1977 to 2001.
Background of
Prince Turki
His stint at the GID, which
came almost by chance due to the need to maintain
a precarious balance of power among the various
clans in the Saudi royal family, made him one of
the longest lasting and authoritative intelligence
chiefs in the world. Under Turki's leadership, the
GID transformed into a modern intelligence
service; as a member of the Safari Club (which
brought together the intelligence chiefs of
France, Morocco, Egypt, Arabia and Iran in an
anti-Soviet effort during Washington's difficult
Watergate phase), he exerted a determinant
influence on Afghani events following the Soviet
invasion of 1979.
From 1980 onward, Turki
committed the GID to the task of providing
financial support for the mujahideen war effort
against the Soviets, channeling vast amounts of
funding to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI), subsidizing jihadis from all over the
Middle East who wanted to participate in the
anti-communist crusade, and assisting the efforts
that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was
starting to make in the same direction.
The impact of Turki's influence determined
who was to prevail among the Afghan leaders; his
funding laid the foundations for the Islamic
volunteer groups who fought in Afghanistan (giving
rise to the formation of groups such as al-Qaeda)
and enabled the ISI to attain such importance that
it became a parallel government in Pakistan. It
was Turki who made a deal with the CIA that Riyadh
would supply the ISI with an amount equal to the
funding provided by US intelligence, thus pouring
huge sums of money onto the Afghan chessboard.
Turki had known Osama bin Laden since
1978; bin Laden became one of the linchpins of the
GID's funding policy toward the ISI and
anti-Soviet warfare in Afghanistan, and he met
with Turki several times in Islamabad. Many years
afterward, in 1998, when bin Laden had already
become engaged in an anti-American crusade, Turki
was responsible for requesting his extradition by
Taliban leader Mullah Omar, but did not succeed in
this task.
Turki's exit from the GID
stirred the rumor mills since it occurred on
August 31, 2001, less than two weeks before the
September 11 attacks and just after his
appointment had been confirmed for another four
years. In 2002, he was appointed Saudi ambassador
to London. In 2005, Turki was cleared of
accusation of having financed the terrorist groups
responsible for the September 11 attacks.
Turki is an extraordinarily controversial
figure. His appointment strengthens ties between
Washington and Riyadh, and sends the US someone
whom the administration cannot help but
appreciate; on the other hand, his appointment
deprives recently installed King Abdullah of a
precious advisor, a trusted confidant and a useful
bulwark against the royal family's
ultra-conservatives, such as Prince Sultan, who
would like to wrench Saudi Arabia free from
Washington's sphere of influence.
For
Turki, this appointment is certainly an important
recognition of his career in general, and of his
ability to liaise with Americans in particular,
although in the present political and economic
situation a figure of such significant
capabilities might well act effectively in the
domestic context by staying at home.
The bottom line
Turki's
appointment appears likely to enhance US
effectiveness in the "war on terror" and to
deprive al-Qaeda of an important target at home.
The prince looks to be the right choice when
considering the common US-Saudi effort to manage
the complex relations between the Bush
administration and the new king.
Both the
Saudi and the Middle East's general context will
likely push Riyadh to take initiatives to counter
internal fundamentalist drives and to increase the
new sovereign's charisma and prestige. To reach
these goals, the active support of Washington is
needed. Therefore, Turki's role will become
indispensable to elaborate and promote policies
which can harmonize Saudi and American interests -
especially when discrepancies appear.
The
new king might also try to obtain a new commitment
from Washington for an independent Palestinian
state - especially if the evolving Iraq situation
allows such a move, which is expected by so many
in the Arab world. Such a request would be of
great help domestically to keep Saudi
fundamentalists under control, but it would also
provide the US an opportunity to gain new
credibility as a mediator in the Muslim world.
Published with permission of the Power and Interest News
Report, an analysis-based
publication that seeks to provide insight into
various conflicts, regions and points of interest
around the globe. All comments should be directed
to content@pinr.com |
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