| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Former Saudi Spy Chief to Replace Bandar |
| 2005-07-20 |
July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, said it plans to appoint former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal as ambassador to the U.S., the kingdom's first change in the post since Ronald Reagan was president. The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced today that Prince Bandar bin Sultan resigned as Saudi envoy to Washington for ``private reasons'' after rendering ``outstanding services'' to the Arab country since 1983. Bandar cultivated deep access to the White House, including regular visits to the Bush family homes. Bandar, who is close to President George Bush, the current president's father, is a former Saudi Air Force officer who became defense attaché, then ambassador, following his involvement in procuring U.S. fighter aircraft in the late 1970s, according to his official embassy biography. He later became the dean of the diplomatic corps in Washington. Turki, who is ambassador to the U.K., was educated in Washington and has a history of working with the U.S. intelligence community. He will come to the U.S. as the Bush administration attempts to spread democracy in the oil-rich Middle East as a counter-weight to violent Islamist movements. Ned Walker, president of the Middle East Institute in Washington and a former U.S. diplomat, said in an interview that Bandar was a symbol of ``the close, warm, fuzzy ties with the administration. Turki is not that person and will not have that relationship.'' Turki, 60, met several times with Osama bin Laden in the context of Saudi support for Muslim fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He later mediated between the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the Saudi government. EFL |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #6 Doesn't the new Ambassador have to present his credentials to the President or Sec. of State or somebody according to diplo custom or some inane thing. How about we reject his credentials and tell him to GTFO (in courteous diplo talk of course)? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-07-20 22:48 |
| #5 A good use for the pit-bull mucky is tring to find a special home for. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-07-20 17:47 |
| #4 Hanged, let's reinstate the old Old Incan "welcome ceremony" for our new Saudi guest. You know the one where we tie um to a tree, split their gullet, pull a few feet of intestine out and wait for the wild dogs to eat their entrails while they helplessly watch. Takes hours, even days depending on how hungry the dogs are. EP |
| Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding 2005-07-20 17:39 |
| #3 In addition to Prince Turki transferring money to al-Qaeda, he is also the brother of Princess Haifa al-Faisal (wife of Prince Bandar) who was discovered to have tranferred a large sum of money to two of the principle 911 terrorists (Midhar and Hazmi) via Osama Basnan a known alQaeda sympathizer who also setup and paid for Midhar and Hazmi's living expenses in California. Princess Haifa transferred at least $100,000 to Basnan. How generous the Saudi Royals are to their subjects. They all have bloody hands and should be hung. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0211/25/cct.00.html RON MOTLEY, ATTORNEY FOR 9/11 VICTIMS AND RELATIVES: Yes, ma'am. We were able to establish, by sworn testimony, the act of participation of Prince Turki in the facilitation of the funding of al Qaeda directly in Afghanistan. CHUNG: Are you saying that Prince Turki, with whom I just spoke and who claims no one in the royal family is in any way connected to or funding al Qaeda, are you saying that he is indeed not only a funder, but a facilitator for al Qaeda? MOTLEY: There is absolutely no question about it. We spoke with senior Taliban officials who were in the room when he indeed did facilitate the transfer of large sums of money directly to al Qaeda in Afghanistan. CHUNG: Who was present and how can you verify that Prince Turki was involved? MOTLEY: Well, Prince Turki hasn't appeared in the suit yet. But when he does, if he does, we will be able to take his testimony under oath. But Prince Turki was in Afghanistan on numerous occasions facilitating the transfer of funds and equipment to al Qaeda. And the people who gave us these sworn statements were in the room when it occurred. And these were senior Taliban, former Taliban officials. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-07-20 17:31 |
| #2 Is Turki coming here for a new phase of the Islamofascist war? |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2005-07-20 17:13 |
| #1 FoxNews said: Turki is comming to Washington with 16 suitcases of dirt on the President's father. Turki had prior knowledge of 9-11 and made billions off of shorting US airlines before the attack. Turki is a friend of Osama. Sounds like it sucks. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-07-20 17:06 |