Sultan ibn Abd al-Aziz

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Sultan ibn Abd al-Aziz

Sultan ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud ( Arabic سلطان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, DMG Sulṭān b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd ; *  January 5, 1928 (according to other information 1922, 1924) in Riyadh ; †  October 22, 2011 in New York ) was the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia , first Deputy Prime Minister of the country, Minister of Defense and Civil Aviation and Inspector General of the Kingdom.

Private life

Sultan was the 18th of 37 sons of the state founder King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud in the official order of birth (see Political System of Saudi Arabia ). He received his early education in religion (through ( Ulamā ' ), modern culture and diplomacy together with his brothers at the royal court. According to official sources, Sultan supplemented his skills with worldwide travel and extensive reading.

Prince Sultan was one of the Sudairi Seven , the powerful group within the royal family of seven full siblings and children of King ibn Saud and his favorite wife Hasa bint Sudairi . Prince Naif , Saudi Arabia's interior minister, and Prince Salman , the former governor of Riyadh and Sultan's successor as defense minister since November 2011, are also among the Sudairi Seven. Sultan's son, Prince Bandar , served as Saudi Ambassador to the United States from 1983 until King Fahd's death in 2005. Prince Chalid , another son, is Deputy Minister of Defense and was a notable Saudi general in the 1991 Gulf War .

Prince Sultan was married several times. From these marriages he had more than 16 daughters and 17 sons. His second wife, Princess Munira Bint Abdul Aziz Bin Musaid Al-Saud, is dubbed his main wife in the Saudi Arabian media.

Prince Sultan's daughters are very active in the social and economic field thanks to their father. His daughters Princess Atab and Princess Rima are members of the management office of the Al-Manahil Center in Riyadh for women and their children. Another daughter named Princess Munira is a well-known and successful businesswoman.

Although officially described as a conservative figure within his family in recent years, the Crown Prince recently publicly supported the reform process of his older half-brother King Abdullah . According to observers, both got on very well with each other and complemented each other. Crown Prince Sultan conferred daily with the King and was present at almost all official occasions of King Abdullah.

Prince Sultan was known as a philanthropist and charitable donor. He founded a charity in his name to promote socially beneficial projects in medicine, science, technology and education. However, his philanthropic endeavors did not always do him credit.

illness

In 2004, Prince Sultan underwent cancer surgery .

In April 2008, Crown Prince Sultan had to go from Agadir to hospital in Geneva for medical treatment . In November 2008, Crown Prince Sultan went to New York for medical treatment. The hospital stay lasted with an interruption until April 2009. A long period of rehabilitation followed until December 2009 in his vacation home in Agadir, Morocco. According to unofficial sources, Crown Prince Sultan was seriously ill. It has been suggested that he had had colon cancer since 2005 . There were no official reports on his health.

politics

King ibn Saud appointed Sultan governor (emir) of the province of the capital Riyadh on June 2, 1947 .

minister

After the death of King ibn Saud, he became Minister of Agriculture in the first Council of Ministers of the country on December 24, 1953, and Minister of Transport and Communications on November 5, 1955. During his time as minister he oversaw the construction of a rail link between Riyadh and Dammam , on the coast of the Persian Gulf , in the oil-rich east of the country, as well as the construction of roads and transport lines.

He had been Minister of Defense and Civil Aviation and Inspector General from October 21, 1962 . In this capacity, he made the Kingdom's army a modern and well-armed forces through arms deals with the United States and Great Britain . In 2004 the army consisted of 124,500 men. Much of Prince Sultan's wealth is said to come from commissions from state arms deals.

In July 1982 he was appointed Second Deputy Prime Minister by his full brother, the then-new King Fahd , an office that both Fahd and his successor King Abdullah held before becoming Crown Prince.

September 11, 2001

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , Prince Sultan banned the United States from using Saudi military bases for military attacks on Afghanistan . Speaking to the state-run Okaz newspaper on September 30, 2001 (October 1 in the Washington Post), he said his government would not tolerate a single soldier attacking Muslims or Arabs in their country. However, after the Iraq War , the government allowed Allied forces to use at least three of their air bases.

On August 15, 2002, along with Prince Turki ibn Faisal and Prince Mohammed ibn Faisal, he was one of the three Saudi princes who were accused by family members of the victims of September 11, allegedly co - financing the terrorist attacks through donations to al-Qaeda- related charities to have.

Crown Prince

On August 1, 2005, after Fahd's death, Prince Sultan became the new Crown Prince, although he was said to have got along badly with the new King Abdullah (“to get on very badly”).

Crown Prince Sultan was considered the most important person in his family, who promoted friendship with the West, especially with the United States. Through his close cooperation with the United States and through immense arms purchases, from which he has made large sums of money, he was considered one of the most - and increasingly - criticized by the Saudi opposition in his family.

Offices

Prince Sultan was chairman of the board of directors of Saudi Arabian Airlines, the national Saudi airline, and expanded its fleet. The international airline handles a large part of the annual pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina .

In 1986, Sultan founded the Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development to promote the protection of native wildlife and was a director.

In 1994 the High Council for Islamic Affairs was established to oversee Islamic affairs in education, economy and foreign policy, chaired by Prince Sultan.

Prince Sultan was among others:

  • Deputy Chairman of the National Science Organization King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology .
  • Chairman of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) to promote tourism in Saudi Arabia.
  • Second Vice-President in the High Council for Petroleum and Minerals and Vice-President in the High Council for Economic Affairs.

Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW)

On October 21, 2002, Prince Sultan announced in Riyadh that nominations would be accepted for a new global prize awarded every two years: the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water. The prize is awarded in four categories, surface water, groundwater, alternative water resources, and water management and protection, and is endowed with $ 133,000 each. In addition, a $ 266,000 "Creativity Price" will be awarded.

literature

  • Sultan bin Abdul Asis al Saud , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 05/2012 from January 31, 2012, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
  • Joseph A. Kechichian: Succession in Saudi Arabia. Palgrave, New York NY et al. 2001, ISBN 0-312-23880-0 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation . Sultanfoundation.org. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  2. ↑ a b c Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud , Public Broadcasting Service
  3. ^ Crown Prince Sultan leaves hospital . arabianbusiness.com. April 1, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  4. ^ Providers of Intelligence on Middle East Energy and Defense Affairs . Tactical Report. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  5. ↑ Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Has Died
  6. ^ Prince Turki bin Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud , globalsecurity.org
  7. ↑ Tensions remain among Saudi royals , BBC, August 1, 2005
  8. ^ HRH the Crown Prince Launches New Embraer Service ( January 16, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive ), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Arabian Airlines
  9. ^ Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development . ncwcd.gov.sa. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.
  10. ^ King Abdulaziz City For Science and Technology . kacst.edu.sa. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  11. ^ Supreme Commission for Tourism . sct.gov.sa. Archived from the original on August 30, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  12. ↑ His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ArabDecision.org @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arabdecision.org
  13. ^ Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water
personal data
SURNAME Sultan ibn Abd al-Aziz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير سلطان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saudi Crown Prince
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Riad
DATE OF DEATH October 22, 2011
Place of death new York