Sultan bin Abdulaziz

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Sultan bin Abdulaziz bigraphy, stories - Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Second deputy prime minister, and the minister of defense

Sultan bin Abdulaziz : biography

30 December 1930 – 22 October 2011

Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (30 December 1930 – 22 October 2011) (), called Sultan al-Khair (Arabic: سلطان الخير, Sultan of goodness) in Saudi Arabia was the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2011.

Views

Sultan took a lifetime anti-communist and anti-Soviet view, based on his dislike of Soviet state atheism as well as Soviet interest in Gulf oil and access to ports that he felt risked Saudi independence. He rebuked U.S. President Jimmy Carter for what he saw as "pusillanimity" in the face of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

In a 23 October 2001 interview in Kuwaiti newspaper As Seyassa, concerning 9/11 attacks, Sultan stated “Who stands behind this terrorism and who carried out this complicated and carefully planned terrorist operation? Osama bin Laden and those with him have said what indicates that they stand behind this carefully planned act. We, in turn, ask: Are bin Laden and his supporters the only ones behind what happened or is there another power with advanced technical expertise that acted with them?”.

Second Deputy Prime Minister

On 13 June 1982, after the death of King Khalid, Prince Sultan was appointed to second deputy prime minister.

Opposition to his appointment as second deputy prime minister came in particular from two other half brothers, Musaid and Bandar, both of whom, like Abdullah, were born in 1923 and therefore, were older than Prince Sultan, who was born in 1924. The objection of Prince Musaid was easy to be neglected since his son, Faisal bin Musaid, had assassinated King Faisal. However, the interests of Bandar bin Abdulaziz were much more hard to ignore. Thus, he was compensated and the dispute was eliminated.

Wealth

Prince Sultan’s wealth in 1990 was reported to be $1.2 billion. Later, his fortune was estimated at $270 billion, which he distributed between his sons prior to his death in October 2011 in order to support their political position in the competitive princely arena.

Early experience

His career in public service began in 1940 when he was made a deputy to then Riyadh governor or emir, Prince Nasser. In 1947, Prince Sultan replaced Prince Nasser as governor of Riyadh. Prince Sultan also assisted King Abdulaziz’s attempts to establish a national administrative system based on the Islamic Sharia law during this period. In 1947, Prince Sultan oversaw ARAMCO’s construction of the Kingdom’s rail link between Dammam and Riyadh. He was appointed as the kingdom’s first minister of agriculture in 1953 and minister of transport in 1955.

Although his direct military experience was brief, heading the Royal Guard in Riyadh in the early 1950s, he felt a lifelong connection to the military and the cause of Saudi independence from an early age. Major General Carl Von Horn, Swedish commander of the UN observer mission during the Yemeni civil war, described the Prince Sultan as "a volatile and emotional young man" in the early days.

Controversy

In 2002, families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks sued Prince Sultan and other senior Saudi officials for their alleged contributions to Al Qaeda linked charities. The lawsuits were thrown out by a US federal judge due to insufficient evidence submitted.

Donations

In April 2005, Sultan donated £2 million to the Ashmolean Museum. This is regarded as one of the most controversial donations Oxford University received. A year after his donations to establish an art museum, Oxford University agreed to ‘expedite’ the scholarship application process for Saudi students, and identify colleges for ten Saudi students from Prince Sultan University (PSU). When this arrangement became public, it led to criticism from both academics and students stating that it was no academic worth to the university, bypassing Oxford’s governing council, and breaching the admissions process for prospective students.

A press release issued by Oxford University on 20 April 2005 said that:

HRH Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud has given the Ashmolean Museum a substantial