Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1928 – 22 October 2011) (Arabic: سلطان بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود), called Sultan al-Khair (Arabic: سلطان الخير, Sultan of goodness) in Saudi Arabia [1] was the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2011.
Early life and education
Sultan was born in Riyadh in 1928.[2] He was the 12th son of King Abdulaziz[3] and his mother was Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi.[4] He was the second of Sudairi Seven.[5][6] Prince Sultan, along with many of his brothers, received his early education in religion, modern culture, and diplomacy at the royal court.[2][6]
Early experience
His career in public service began in 1940 when he was made a deputy to then Riyadh governor or emir, Prince Nasser.[6] In 1947, Prince Sultan replaced Prince Nasser as governor of Riyadh.[7][8] Prince Sultan also assisted King Abdulaziz's attempts to establish a national administrative system based on the Islamic Sharia law during this period.[7] 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[7] and minister of transport in 1955.[9]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.[10] 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.[10]
Minister of Defense and Aviation
In 1963, King Faisal appointed Prince Sultan as minister of defense and aviation.[8][11] He presided over the development of the Saudi armed forces. During the reign of King Faisal, Prince Sultan was particularly interested in Yemen.[12] His influence declined under the reign of King Khalid.[12]Sultan purchased U.S. tanks, fighter planes, missiles and AWACS (airborne warning and control systems). However, as a result of problems assimilating technology within its armed forces, a relatively high proportion of the military equipment is stored or under maintenance, despite a large portion of Saudi's $34 billion defense budget being spent on maintaining military equipment. Sultan allegedly became extraordinarily wealthy from kickbacks by Western businesses that handled multibillion-dollar defense contracts.[13] He was involved in many scandals, including the Al Yamamah deal.[14] However, his influence remained unhindered until his health began to deteriorate.[14] During his tenure, Saudi Arabia became the largest importer of U.S. arms. He was a strong proponent of U.S.-Saudi partnership.[15]
As well, Sultan authorized a deal with the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1965. His program, called Operation Magic Carpet, traded £16 million for six second-hand Lightnings, six Hawker Hunters, and a set of missile launchers going to Royal Saudi Air Force. Geoffrey Edwards served as the official intermediary. British pilots also came over, privately contracted.[10] Prince Sultan was an expert on the Yemen civil war and Soviet involvement in the Horn of Africa in 1985.[16]In 1996, Prince Sultan opposed Pentagon plans to relocate U.S. troops to safer locations after the Dhahran complex bombings.[17] He visited Iran in May 1999 that was the first official visit of a Saudi minister since 1979.[18]
Second Deputy Prime Minister
On 13 June 1982, after the death of King Khalid and Crown Prince Fahd became the King, Prince Sultan was appointed second deputy prime minister.[8][19] 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.[20]In December 1995, Prince Sultan attempted to seize power through the support of the Ulema when then Crown Prince Abdullah was in Oman for a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council.[21] However, his attempted coup failed.[21]
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