Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz

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King Salman (2018)

Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud ( Arabic سلمان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, DMG Salmān bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd ; *  December 31, 1935 in Riyadh ) has been the absolutist king and prime minister of Saudi Arabia since January 23, 2015 . This makes him the commander in chief of the Saudi military . The Saudi king belongs to the Saud dynasty and has held the title of Guardian of the Holy Places since 1986 .

Private life

Salman bin Abdullaziz Al Saud in his Youth.jpg
The youthful Salman Al Saud
Salman bin Abdullaziz Al Saud.jpg
Salman Al Saud, around 30 years old


Salman's father was the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud , who died in 1953. In the order of birth he is only the 32nd son of his father, who was married to a total of 30 women and had over 50 children, but his mother Princess Huzza Bint Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Sudairi (1900-1969) was one of his father's favorite wives . Both in the maternal line and in the paternal line, Salman belongs to the powerful Sudairi family from the tribe of the ad-Dawasir (arab.الدواسر, sing. دوسري / Dausari ) from Najd . The seven Sudairi brothers traditionally held a privileged position after the king's death. Of the “ Sudairi Seven ”, Salman is the second youngest.

Salman received his education at the "School of the Princes" at his father's court, which was set up for the sons of the king. He received his higher education at the Islamic Institute in Mecca , where he studied the basics of university mathematics and geography in addition to religious studies.

King Salman has a daughter and twelve sons from three marriages. His son Sultan (* 1956) was the first Saudi to enter space in 1985. In 2011 his wife Sultana died. Salman has been unable to move his left arm fully since a stroke in early 2014. His son Mohammed bin Salman (* 1985) has been Crown Prince since 2017, Khalid bin Salman (* 1988) ambassador to Washington.

In an article in Euro am Sonntag , Salman is described as an early riser and a workaholic. He also likes to watch soccer games.

Companies

Salman is the owner of the newspaper Asharq al-Awsat (Arabic:الشرق الاوسط, translated: 'The Middle East'). It is also said that through his son Faisal , he controls the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), the Middle East's largest media company.

politics

Governor of Riyadh

Governor Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz with Vladimir Putin (2007)

In 1962, Salman was appointed governor of the province of Riyadh by his older half-brother King Saud . Since then, he has monitored and promoted the capital's rapid growth.

Terrorist financing

During the 1980s and 1990s, the alliance between the wealthy monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the country's powerful clergy emerged as the main financier of international terrorism , channeling millions of dollars to fighters in Afghanistan , Bosnia and elsewhere. Among the major sponsors of the project was the then Prince Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud.

Defense Minister and Crown Prince

Secretary of Defense Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in the Pentagon (April 2012)

On November 5, 2011, he was appointed Minister of Defense. His predecessor Sultan ibn Abd al-Aziz died on October 22, 2011. As a member of the Royal Council, he was credited with great influence on succession issues. After the death of his brother Naif , who stood before him in the line of succession , he was appointed Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister on June 18, 2012, and he retained his position as Minister of Defense.

King of Saudi Arabia

King Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz with Barack Obama (2015)

After the death of his half-brother Abdullah , he was made king on January 23, 2015 at the age of 79. Salman is considered a mediator within the royal family. He is assigned to the moderately conservative wing of the royal family and maintains close relationships with the clergy . He rejects democracy . Yet reforms were expected at the beginning of his rule. These hopes were not fulfilled.

The Shiite and the liberal opposition are critical of him.

His designated successor was his half-brother Muqrin ibn Abd al-Aziz after the accession to the throne . In a break with tradition, Salman deposed his half-brother Mukrin as crown prince on April 29, 2015 and instead raised his nephew, Interior Minister Mohammed ibn Naif , to this post. In June 2017, his son Mohammad was named Crown Prince.

King Salman appointed his son Mohammed bin Salman as defense minister in January 2015, at 29 or 34 years old, depending on the source, he was the world's youngest defense minister.

Since his appointment, there have been doubts as to whether Salman is even able to take office, because he suffered from the consequences of a stroke, possibly also from the onset of Alzheimer's disease . As a first official act, King Salman appointed his then 29-year-old son Mohammed ibn Salman as the new defense minister, the most important post for safeguarding the royal power, as well as head of the court, with which the son controls access to the king.

On October 6, 2015, Salman was admitted to the intensive care unit of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh .

In poor health, Salman made a two-minute keynote address to the Consultative Assembly on December 22, 2015 . The 150-member assembly is the highest advisory body in the absolutist, strictly Islamic conservative kingdom. Because Salman can no longer express himself clearly, because it is difficult for him to speak and because he mumbles a lot, the speech was later distributed in writing to the members of the meeting. In it Salman assured the Saudis further growth despite the low oil price. The fall in the price of oil is a heavy burden on the Saudi treasury, with the annual budget deficit exceeding $ 100 billion. Salman called for a political solution to the Syrian civil war and blamed the Syrian government for the strengthening of extremist forces.

At the beginning of January 2016, Salman had 47 alleged terrorists executed, including the opposition Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr . The result was global criticism and enormous tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Both Gulf states are fighting for regional supremacy and are waging proxy wars in Yemen , Syria and Iraq . Salman broke off all relations, including flight connections, with Iran.

With the publication of the Panama Papers in April 2016, Salman's entrepreneurial activities became known to the public.

When US President Donald Trump visited Riyadh in May 2017, one of the largest single arms deals in history was agreed. Over a ten-year period, Saudi Arabia is expected to purchase arms worth over $ 350 billion from the United States. The deal included ships for the coast guard , the THAAD missile defense system for defense against short and medium-range missiles , armored vehicles, missiles, explosive devices and ammunition. The purchase of the weapons was not tied to conditions such as an improvement in the human rights situation or an end to the devastating air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen ( military intervention in Yemen since 2015 ).

On November 4, 2017, King Salman appointed his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman to head an anti-corruption campaign that resulted in the arrest of around 200 people, including eleven princes, four incumbent ministers and dozen former members of the government. Those arrested included billionaires al-Walid ibn Talal , the richest man in Saudi Arabia with an estimated fortune of more than $ 17 billion, and Saleh Abdullah Kamel , head of the National Guard Miteb Bin Abdullah , Minister of Economics and Planning Adel Fakeih , the naval commander Admiral Abdullah al-Sultan , the former finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf and Bakr bin Laden , a half-brother of Osama bin Laden .

In March 2019, his niece, Princess Basmah bint Saud Al Saud, was arrested without charge while trying to travel to Switzerland. In April 2020, she turned to King Salman and asked for his release. In 2012 she denounced the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia.

In March 2020, the brother of King Salman Ahmed ibn Abd al-Aziz and the king's nephew Mohammed ibn Naif were arrested on charges of treason (allegedly preparing a coup to disempower the king and his crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ghada Talhami: Sudairi, Hassah Bint Ahmad (1900–1969) . In: Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa . The Scarecrow Press. London 2013, p. 312. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c Simon Henderson: After King Abdullah: Succession in Saudi Arabia. In: The Washington Institute for Near-East Policy. August 2009, accessed June 23, 2017 .
  3. ↑ John Lawton and Patricia Moody: A Prince in Space. In: Aramco world. February 1986, archived from the original on May 7, 2012 ; accessed on February 26, 2011 (English).
  4. ↑ Abdullah Al-Oraifij: Sultana, wife of Riyadh Emir, passes away. In: Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013 ; Retrieved August 4, 2011 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Spiegel Online : Change of power in Saudi Arabia: Saudi King Abdullah is dead. January 23, 2015, accessed on January 23, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Saudi Arabia: The Power of the House of Saud . In: finanzen.net . January 18, 2016, accessed January 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ GulfBase: The Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). Retrieved February 26, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Cable 09RIYADH651, IDEOLOGICAL AND OWNERSHIP TRENDS IN THE SAUDI MEDIA. In: US Embassy Riyadh. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010 ; Retrieved February 26, 2011 . wikileaks
  9. ↑ Who's Who: The House of Saud: Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz. In: Public Broadcasting Service . October 7, 2004, accessed January 15, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Ben Hubbard, Scott Shane: Pre-9/11 Ties Haunt Saudis as New Accusations Surface . In: The New York Times , February 4, 2015, accessed June 23, 2017.
  11. ^ Saudi Arabia: Prince Salman new Minister of Defense. In: Wiener Zeitung online. November 5, 2011, accessed November 14, 2011 .
  12. ↑ Heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia has died. In: Spiegel Online . June 16, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud new crown prince. In: handelsblatt.com. June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Change of power in Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah is dead. In: n-tv . January 23, 2015, accessed January 23, 2015 .
  15. ↑ King's son with ambitions . In: sueddeutsche.de . April 26, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  16. ↑ Saudi Arabia's king appoints new interior minister . In: BBC online . 5th November 2012.
  17. ↑ Saudi King Salman appoints a new crown prince . In: welt.de . April 29, 2014, accessed June 22, 2017.
  18. ↑ Mohammed bin Nayef kingpin in new Saudi Arabia: country experts ( Memento from April 14, 2015 on WebCite ) (English). Middle East Eye, Jan 23, 2015, archived from the original .
  19. ↑ Bruce Riedel: Stakes getting dangerously high for Saudi Arabia and its young prince ( Memento from May 21, 2015 on WebCite ) (English). Brookings, May 19, 2015, archived from the original .
  20. ↑ Historical Lessons from the Yemen Crisis - Towards a Proxy War? ( Memento from May 9, 2015 on WebCite ) , Qantara.de, April 3, 2015, by Elham Manea, archived from the original . Translation from the English version: The crisis in Yemen - History can help us to understand ( Memento from May 10, 2015 on WebCite ) , Qantara.de, April 1, 2015, archived from the original . Older Arabic version: "عاصفة الحزم" العسكرية ضد الحوثي وصالح في اليمن: صراع عربي إيراني “الطائفية ليساية , accessed on March 10, 2015 الي اليية اليسيوة .
  21. ↑ Raniah Salloum: The five most important tasks of the new king . In: Spiegel Online . January 23, 2015, accessed June 22, 2017.
  22. ↑ Martin Gehlen: Saudis are already doubting the new king . In: DerWesten.de . January 24, 2015, accessed June 22, 2017.
  23. ↑ Martin Gehlen: Obama invites - but only two rulers come . In: tagesspiegel.de . May 11, 2015, accessed June 22, 2017.
  24. ^ Saudi King Hospitalized. In: Fars . October 6, 2015, accessed October 11, 2015 .
  25. ^ Saudi King Hospitalized for Dementia. In: AhlulBayt News Agency. October 6, 2015, accessed October 11, 2015 .
  26. ↑ Brief appearance of the Saudi king in front of the Shura council . In: dw.com . December 23, 2015, accessed June 22, 2015.
  27. ↑ Gérard Al-Fil: Saudi Arabia: The Power of the House of Saud . In: finanzen.net . January 18, 2016, accessed January 18, 2016.
  28. ↑ Tax scandal: These heads of state and government appear in the documents. In: Focus Online . April 4, 2016, accessed December 23, 2016 .
  29. ↑ USA and Saudi Arabia conclude gigantic arms trade ( Memento from May 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: idowa.de . May 20, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  30. ↑ The Saudi royal family arrests princes and ex-ministers . In Zeit Online , November 5, 2017.
  31. ↑ Dozens of arrests: Saudi Arabia's king dismisses ministers and strengthens Crown Prince . In: Spiegel Online . November 5, 2017 ( spiegel.de [accessed June 10, 2019]).
  32. ↑ Saudi Arabia detains princes, ministers in anti-corruption probe UK-Reuters, November 5, 2017
  33. ↑ a b DER SPIEGEL: Saudi Arabia: Imprisoned Princess Basmah bint Saud asks for mercy - DER SPIEGEL - Panorama. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  34. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Conservative monarchy: Princess calls for reforms in Saudi Arabia - DER SPIEGEL - Panorama. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  35. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Saudi Arabia: Crown Prince Mohamed arrests several princes - DER SPIEGEL - politics. Retrieved March 7, 2020 .
  36. ↑ Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman: Several princes arrested in Saudi Arabia for coup plans . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed March 7, 2020]).
personal data
SURNAME Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Al Saud, Salman bin Abdulaziz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saudi Arabian nobleman, King of Saudi Arabia
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Riad