Zvi Bar’el writes: Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar bin Sultan, 62, fell in love with the United States when he was still a pilot in his country’s air force and took aerobatics training on an American air base. The romance was renewed several years later when he was named his country’s ambassador to Washington, a tenure that lasted 22 years, during which he was a regular guest of both George Bushes and was the only ambassador who was guarded by the U.S. Secret Service.
Last week King Abdullah named him director-general of the Saudi Intelligence Agency, replacing Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, on top of his post as secretary general of the National Security Council, which he’s held since 2005.
Bandar’s appointment to the most important position in the Saudi security echelons is no coincidence. Aside from the fact that he is very well connected to the kingdom’s leaders (his wife, Haifa, is the daughter of King Faisal who was assassinated in 1975, her brother, Turki al-Faisal, was once head of Saudi intelligence and another brother, Mohammed al-Faisal, is one of the kingdom’s richest men), it seems that the primary reason for his appointment now is that Saudi Arabia is preparing for the next stage in Syria, after President Bashar Assad finally gets off the political stage, one way or another, and Syria turns into a focus of international struggles for control of the inheritance.
There is already an intense campaign over this inheritance between the United States with the European Union and Russia, but the ramifications of Assad’s fall on the positions of Iran and Hezbollah – and no less so, Iraq – are more important. And when Egypt is hobbling on crutches in its effort to establish its “Second Republic,” and its position in the Middle East is that of a disabled person needing nursing care, and when the Arab League is paralyzed, Saudi Arabia is left to assume responsibility for drawing up the new map of the Middle East.
From Washington’s perspective, Bandar’s appointment is important news. Bandar, the rugby fan and man-about-town, whose wife, more than a decade ago, was being investigated by Congress about her connections to Al-Qaida activists, is considered the CIA’s man in Riyadh. He’s known as a can-do person who makes quick decisions and doesn’t spare any resources to achieve his objectives.
When there was a need to transfer money to the rebels in Nicaragua in the 1980s, Bandar was the one who dealt with the Saudi “grants” that were requested by the White House. He was also the one who arranged things when Saudi Arabia was asked to help fund the mujahedeen’s battles in Afghanistan against the Soviet conquest.
Bandar is a member of that part of the royal family that is against the revolutions in the Arab states, and who see the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood no less of a threat than Iranian influence in the region. [Continue reading…]
Oh dear, Mr Bar’El trots out the usual Israeli disinformation as he obfuscates the Saudi interest in Syria. His suggestion that Haifa Bint Faisal has any connection with alQaida is a tired and disproven shibboleth. Many of us contributed to charities around that time without complete knowledge of the final recipients, which is more one can say for the dollars poured into Israel most recently supporting the Anchluss of the West Bank.
To understand the Saudi connection with Syria, one need go no further than understanding that King Abdullah himself is of Rashidi origin and that more than 2-3 million Syrians have Rashidi, or affiliated inheritance. There are geopolitical interests too, but it is very much a tribal thing.
Is it good for the Jews? Probably. Better to deal with the honesty of an Arab-spring, fledgling democracy than with a frightened tyrant. Will it be more complicated? Sure, but using principles of decency, respect, and negotiated peace among equals, Israel’s diplomacy with post-Assad Syria could form the basis of solving their Palestinian problem with equity.