Saud al-‎Faisal

His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Faisal ‎Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1940 - ‎‎2015) is the most significant ‎Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of ‎Saudi Arabia. He has also been one of the most prominent ‎politicians in the world for over forty years, during which he headed the Saudi Ministry of ‎Foreign Affairs. In that period of time, he ‎participated in several committees on Arab ‎issues and headed several delegations ‎representing Saudi Arabia on Arab and global ‎cases, especially during the annual meetings ‎of the United Nations General Assembly over ‎four decades.‎

Prince Saud al-Faisal was distinguished by ‎his eloquence, expressiveness, ‎self-control and ability to steer away from agitation in difficult situations. ‎He was also known for his political and diplomatic ‎acumen, as well as his undivided attention to ‎tough situations. He stood his ground while defending cases related to the Kingdom, as well as Gulf and ‎ Arab countries. He was famous for ‎respecting the sovereignty of states and their ‎status without discrimination.‎

Prince Saud al-Faisal was born in Taif, and received ‎his primary education at Taif Model School. Then, he studied for a ‎bachelor’s degree in economics at Princeton ‎University in New Jersey, USA, and graduated in 1964.‎

The Prince's career started at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (currently the Ministry of Energy) where he worked as an economic consultant and became a member of the Supreme Coordination Committee at the same ministry. Then, he worked at Petromin Corporation and became responsible for the Petroleum Relations Office, which supervised the coordination of the relationship between Petromin and the ministry in 1966. In 1970, the Prince was appointed as Deputy Governor of Petromin for Planning Affairs. In 1971, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in the ministry (currently known as the Ministry of Energy) until 1974.

Saud al-Faisal began working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the reign of his father, King Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. At the time, Omar al-Saqqaf was the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs until the Prince was appointed to hold this position after his death for around seven months, from March until October 1975. Then, the Prince was appointed by Royal Decree as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in October 13, 1975.

A Royal Decree was issued in 2015 appointing Prince Saud al-Faisal as ‎Minister of State, a member of the ‎Council of Ministers, Advisor and Special Envoy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King ‎Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Supervisor ‎of Foreign Affairs until he passed in the same ‎year of 2015.‎

Prince Saud al-Faisal performed several duties, ‎most notably: Vice-President of the Supreme Media Council, member of the Supreme ‎Petroleum Council and the Managing Director of the National Wildlife Authority, ‎in addition to his membership in several Arab ‎committees, including Al-Quds ‎Committee, the Arab Committee for Lebanon, ‎the Arab Tripartite Committee on Lebanon, the Arab ‎Solidarity Committee and the Arab Seven ‎Committee.‎

On behalf of the King, Prince Saud al-Faisal led Saudi delegations in several meetings and summits, whether Arab or Islamic ones. Moreover, he permanently presided the Saudi delegation in the meetings of Arab and Muslim Foreign Ministers and the annual meetings of the United Nations General Assembly over the four decades when he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Prince Saud al-Faisal is a symbol of the Kingdom’s history of diplomacy in particular, and Arab and Islamic diplomacy in general. He is the world's longest serving minister of foreign affairs. He has maintained his position and gained the confidence of four kings: King Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his brothers King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. When he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prince witnessed the most prominent contemporary events across the Middle East and the world. He even lived through one of the most important eras in world history.

Prince Saud al-Faisal exerted multiple efforts ‎that activated the role of the ‎Arab League, established the Gulf ‎Cooperation Council, and defended the legitimate ‎rights of the Palestinian people, in addition to his ‎efforts to bring peace to Lebanon after years ‎of war, and battling terrorism. Moreover, ‎the foreign policy adopted by the Kingdom to support ‎world peace efforts and consolidate regional ‎security was apparent during his time as ‎Minister of Foreign Affairs.‎

Prince Saud al-Faisal witnessed the most ‎difficult political conditions in the region, most ‎notably the Iraqi-Iranian war, the civil war ‎in Lebanon, the invasion of Kuwait and ‎September eleventh. The Prince also mitigated the repercussions ‎of events and devised peaceful solutions.‎

Prince Saud al-Faisal held a firm position in ‎upholding the rights of Arab countries. Throughout his life, he called for the ‎sovereignty of the UAE regarding its islands ‎occupied by Iran. Furthermore, he took a firm stand on Iranian threats toward the ‎Kingdom of Bahrain in 2011. He also ‎harnessed his efforts to serve the Palestinian ‎cause, which remained the focus of his ‎attention in all international diplomatic forums.‎

In the darkest and most difficult ‎circumstances, Prince Saud al-Faisal was ‎keen to improve the reality of Arab politics by taking a stand in the Taif Agreement, the ‎liberation of Kuwait, and the stages following ‎the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, passing ‎through the so-called Arab Spring, which ‎affected many Arab countries.‎

Prince Saud al-Faisal also played a prominent ‎role in standing up to Iran and its attempts to ‎expand its influence in the region, especially ‎in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. He constantly confronted its policies, and his ‎diplomacy successfully convinced the world ‎that Iran had several allies in the Arab region, ‎namely among Hezbollah militias and the Quds ‎Force.‎

Although Prince Saud al-Faisal was interested in diplomacy and politics, his speeches also addressed human rights and women's issues, refining children's abilities, raising their creativity and intellectual skills, and ensuring their complete protection by rejecting sectarian conflicts and ethnic differences to protect societies from civil wars.

After spending more than forty years searching through the nooks and crannies of politics and diplomacy, Prince Saud al-Faisal passed ‎on Thursday, July 9, 2015, leaving behind six sons. He ‎was mourned by most of the political leaders ‎and diplomats worldwide. The King Faisal ‎Center for Research and Islamic Studies held in tribute to him ‎an international conference sponsored by the ‎Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King ‎Salman Bin Abdulaziz, which was attended by more than three thousand ‎Arab, Islamic and international personalities.