Former Saudi Foreign Minister Dies

Prince Saud al-Faisal

THE TELEGRAPH: Tributes paid to Prince Saud al-Faisal, once the world's longest-serving, foreign minister

Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al-Faisal, formerly the world's longest-serving foreign minister who oversaw four decades of turbulent diplomacy for the oil-rich kingdom, died on Thursday.

A statement from the Royal Court said Prince Saud, who was born in 1940, died in the United States.

It did not give the cause of death but said funeral prayers would be held on Saturday night in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Prince Saud was one of the highest profile members of the kingdom's ruling elite before stepping down in April for health reasons.

The prince often swapped his traditional Saudi thobe and checkered shemagh headdress for elegant suits when on missions in Western capitals.

He oversaw Saudi Arabia's emergence as a major diplomatic player, facing successive regional crises and maintaining a focus on relations with the West.

"He was a symbol of honesty and hard work," the Royal Court said.

Relatives earlier announced Saud's death on social media. » | AFP | Friday, July 10, 2015

THE GUARDIAN: Former Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal dies: Prince had overseen nation’s emergence as a major diplomatic player, facing successive regional crises and maintaining a focus on relations with the west » | Agence France-Presse in Riyadh | Thursday, July 9, 2015

Le prince saoudien Fayçal est mort »

Prince Saud Urges Stronger Culture of Dialogue Worldwide
SAUDI GAZETTE: NEW YORK - In his address to the 63rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs said the nations of the world need to work together to combat extremists who seek to “propogate notions of intolerance, exclusion, racism and hatred,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Prince Saud said with modernization the world has become more interconnected than ever and therefore needs to work more cohesively in order to stop the spread of extremist thought across the world.

He used the World Conference on Dialogue held in Madrid last July as a launching pad for continued talks amongst religions and political leaders about how to improve the current social condition of the world. Prince Saud said King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, started the dialogue conference because “mankind is passing through a critical phase which in spite of scientific progress (there has been) a proliferation of crime, an increase in terrorism, disintegration of the family, subversion of the minds of the young by drug abuse, exploitation of the poor by (the wealthy) and odious racist tendencies.”

Therefore nations working with the UN must work together to build a global society “more conducive to the promotion of values of dialogue, tolerance and moderation.”

He urged that the ideals discussed at the Spain dialogue conference be built upon so the international community can benefit. “I call upon the General Assembly of the United Nations to convene a high-level meeting to endorse and support a continued process of dialogue among religions and peoples in conformity with the Madrid Declaration,” Prince Saud said.

The Foreign Minister also touched on other issues such as an issue he addressed a day earlier about Israel’s continued violation of international law and warned that any temporary solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be rejected by Arab nations, because of a fear that temporary solutions would become permanent.

He also called for an Isreali withdrawal from occupied territories and pushed for making the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. Prince Saud Urges Stronger Culture of Dialogue Worldwide >>> Saudi Gazette staff | September 29, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>