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Saudi ambassador to U.S. resigns
2006-12-12
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, has resigned after only 15 months on the job, the embassy said on Tuesday, fueling speculation he may succeed his ailing brother as foreign minister. "The embassy can confirm that he is leaving. He wants to spend more time with his family," said an embassy official, who asked not to be named as the announcement had not yet been made formally by the Saudi government. Turki's predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, held the job for 22 years and the short tenure of the current envoy came as a surprise. The official said Turki had submitted his resignation and told staff in Washington about his decision on Monday but he declined to provide further details or say what his next job might be. Diplomats in Riyadh said the health of Turki's brother, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, was not good and he appeared slow or ill in recent public appearances. That has fueled rumors that Turki could succeed him as minister. Saudi Arabia has been a key ally of the United States and is the world's top oil exporter. However, there have been tensions in recent years following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its chaotic aftermath. Last month, Vice President Dick Cheney went to Saudi Arabia to discuss Iraq and how to break the deadlock in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Turki had served in a variety of government jobs since the early 1970s, including postings in London as well as director of intelligence and is seen by many as having the right credentials to succeed his brother. Asked whether Turki was returning to Riyadh because of his brother's ill health, the embassy official declined comment. "I cannot say what job he is going to do next," the official said. CLOSE TIES On Monday before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Turki met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the State Department where he told her of his decision to leave. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack hailed the close ties between the two nations, which he said faced many common threats in the region, adding that Rice had worked well with the outgoing ambassador. "As for the potential departure of the ambassador, we are sure it is for his own reasons," McCormack said. The departure also came days after Turki fired a consultant who wrote an opinion piece published in The Washington Post that suggested the Saudi kingdom would back Iraq's Muslim Sunnis in the event of a wider sectarian conflict. The article by a Saudi government security adviser, Nawaf Obaid, said the kingdom would intervene with funding and weaponry to prevent Shi'ite militias from attacking Iraq's Sunnis and suggested Saudi Arabia could bring down world oil prices to squeeze Shi'ite power Iran. Saudi Arabia denied the assertions and Turki said he terminated a consultancy agreement with Obaid, who had said the views were his own and not of the Saudi government. Turki was en route to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday where he would have meetings and take a prearranged vacation, the embassy official said. "He has commitments for appointments in January and some speaking arrangements. He will also spend some time in Washington for his formal farewell," he said. (Additional reporting by Andrew Hammond in Riyadh)
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