Nawaf Relieved of His Post

JEDDAH, 27 January 2005 — Prince Nawaf, director of intelligence, has been relieved of his post upon his request and has been named special adviser at the Royal Court, it was announced here yesterday.

“In appreciation of his noble services and considering our need of his services, we have appointed him as special adviser to us in the rank of a minister,” Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd said in a royal decree, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

According to this Arab News article, Prince Nawaf bin Adbulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence, with the rank of Minister, has resigned.

Nawaf replaced Prince Turki Al-Faisal in that position in early Sept., 2001. The Saudi Embassy in DC has a press release announcing his appointment, which includes some biographical information. It seems his major personal and business interests were in Australia and New Zealand. He’s reported to have funded solar research at the University of Sydney.

Nawaf’s health had been less than excellent. You may recall his emergency hospitalization in Beirut, following a collapse at at Arab League Summit there in 2002.

It’ll be most interesting to see who’s named as his replacement.