http://www.geostrategy-direct.com
Sudden departure of longtime Saudi ambassador to U.S. called resignation, vacation Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its ambassador from the United States. Prince Bandar Bin Sultan has resigned and returned to Riyad, Saudi opposition sources and diplomats said. They said Bandar cleared his desk at the Saudi embassy in Washington and left with his staff. "He has left with all his belongings and almost the entire staff," a senior Saudi diplomat told the Washington-based Saudi Information Agency. Bandar has been close to several U.S. presidents and was deemed the liaison for U.S.-Saudi relations. He lived in a lavish estate in McLean, Virginia near the entrance to the Central Intelligence Agency and across a street from the Fort Marcy Park. However, Saudi sources said his access to the White House significantly decreased following 9/11. Fifteen of the 19 Al Qaida attackers were Saudi nationals. The Saudi embassy has denied that Bandar resigned. A statement by the embassy said Bandar would soon return to Washington. "Prince Bandar is currently on vacation and is expected to return to his office at the end of August," the embassy said. The Saudi Information Agency said Bandar's younger brother, Salman Bin Sultan, was expected to become the next ambassador to the United States. Salman has been the administrative attache at the Washington embassy. Bandar is the son of Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz. Sultan was expected to be appointed crown prince after the death of the ailing King Fahd. Saudi opposition sources said Bandar has been absent from the Washington embassy for nearly a year. He was expected to be appointed to one of several major positions after Fahd's death, including that of Saudi intelligence chief. "If King Fahd's death is announced in the coming days or weeks, as seems increasingly likely, Bandar would want to be in Riyad to secure his own future," SIA, an opposition news agency, said. -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
