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Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (Arabic: الأمير بندر بن سلطان بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود, born 2 March 1949) is a Saudi politician and was Saudi ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005. He was appointed Secretary-General of the National Security Council by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on 16 October 2005.
[edit] BiographyBorn in Taif, Saudi Arabia, Prince Bandar is a son of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. He attended the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force, where he served for seventeen years. He is a trained pilot, and has flown numerous fighter aircraft. He received additional training at Maxwell Air Force Base and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, before receiving a Masters in International Public Policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.[1] Prince Bandar's diplomatic experience began in 1978, when he successfully lobbied the United States Congress to approve the sale of F-15s to Saudi Arabia as the Saudi King's personal envoy. In 1983 he was appointed ambassador to the United States. By Washington Post journalist David Ottaway’s estimation, he has dealt with, in his tenure as ambassador, "five U.S. presidents, ten secretaries of state, eleven national security advisors, sixteen sessions of Congress, an obstreperous media, and hundreds of greedy politicians".[2] [edit] Political careerPrince Bandar has formed close relationships with several American presidents, notably George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the latter giving him the affectionate and controversial nickname "Bandar Bush". (The close relationship with the Bush family is described in Craig Unger's book House of Bush, House of Saud and is highlighted in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.) During the Reagan presidency, he secured the purchase of AWACs surveillance aircraft in the teeth of fierce Israeli and congressional opposition. When America turned down one particular arms order he, undeterred, bought missiles from China, hoodwinking the CIA and infuriating the State department. No Arab ambassador - perhaps no ambassador - has ever come close to matching Prince Bandar's influence in Washington, D.C. At the height of his influence and power he was indispensable to both sides, serving "at once as the King's exclusive messenger and the White House's errand boy". [edit] ControversyPrince Bandar has endured controversy over allegations in the book Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward that President George W. Bush informed him of the decision to invade Iraq ahead of Secretary of State Colin Powell. Also, the book alleged a deal had been worked out to reduce oil prices just ahead of the November 2004 election. Bandar publicly endorsed President Bush. On 26 June 2005, Prince Bandar reportedly submitted his resignation as ambassador to the United States for "personal reasons".[3][4] Bandar's return to Saudi Arabia was announced weeks prior to the death of King Fahd, upon which Bandar's father, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, became the nation's Crown Prince. It has been rumoured that Bandar's return was timed in order to secure a position in the new government.[5] In October 2005 he became the kingdom's national security chief. [edit] Corruption allegationsBandar helped negotiate the 1985 Al Yamamah deal, a series of massive arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia worth GB£40 billion (US$80 billion), including the sale of more than 100 warplanes. After the deal was signed, British arms manufacturer British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) allegedly funnelled secret payments of at least GB£1 billion (US$2 billion) into two Saudi embassy accounts in Washington, in yearly instalments of up to GB£120 million (US$240 million) over at least 10 years. Bandar allegedly took money for personal use out of the accounts, as the purpose of one of the accounts was to pay the operating expenses of the prince's private Airbus A340. According to investigators, there was "no distinction between the accounts of the embassy, or official government accounts [...], and the accounts of the royal family." The payments were discovered during a Serious Fraud Office investigation, which was stopped in December 2006 by attorney general Lord Goldsmith.[6][7] In 2009, Louis Freeh was hired by Saudi Arabian Prince Bandar bin Sultan as his legal representative on issues surrounding the Al-Yamamah arms deal, appearing April 7, 2009 on the PBS series Frontline: Black Money. [8] [edit] After the ambassadorshipBandar was appointed Secretary-General of the National Security Council by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on 16 October 2005, which was extended for four years on 3 September 2009.[9] According to UPI's Editor at Large Arnaud de Borchgrave (writing in late December 2006), Bandar met secretly with U.S. officials in 2006 after leaving the ambassadorship:[10]
[edit] Private lifeHe is married to Princess Haifa bint Faisal. They have four sons and four daughters ranging various ages. The youngest three (Fahad, Hussa, and Azus) attended The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, while living in the town from 2001 to 2005. He was appointed Secretary-General of the National Security Council by King Abdullah on 16 October 2005. On 12 July 2006, it was reported that Prince Bandar was seeking to sell his 56,000-square-foot (5,200 m2) mansion in Aspen, Colorado, for US $135 million. The palatial vacation home, called Hala Ranch, is larger than the White House, is perched on a mountaintop of 95 acres (380,000 m2), and includes 15 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms featuring 24-karat gold fixtures. In December 2006, the mansion was still listed for sale at $135 million.[10] In December 2007, the 14,395 square foot guesthouse was sold for a reported $36.5 mm.[11] The purported reason for the sale is that Bandar is too busy to enjoy the mansion.[12] He owns Glympton Park, Oxfordshire. [edit] References
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