Sa'ad Pasha Khair | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Died | December 9, 2009 (aged 52–53) |
| Occupation | Head of the General Intelligence Directorate |
| Title | Field Marshal, Pasha |
| Relatives | Basheer Khair (Father} Saeed Pasha Khair (Grandfather) Akef Al-Fayez (Cousin) ContentsTrad Al-Fayez (Cousin) |
Sa'ad Pasha Khair was the leading Jordanian Intelligence and Security official from 2000 till 2005 and one of only four who held the rank of Field Marshal in Jordanian history apart from the Kings of Jordan. [1]
Sa'ad was born to an influential family in Amman in 1956. His grandfather was the Mayor of Amman between 1920 and 1925, and his paternal Aunt was married to and was the favorited wife of Mithqal Pasha Al-Fayez. [2] His father Basheer was the Governor of Amman in 1951-1952. [3]
Sa'ad passed away in Vienna in December of 2009 from a heart attack. [4]
Between 2000 and 2005, Sa'ad Khair was the head of the newly formed Jordanian National Security Agency, [5] otherwise known as General Intelligence Directorate, and was a key U.S. ally in the War on Terror. He participated in the CIA extraordinary rendition of people suspected by the US government of being terrorists. [6]
Khair's work during this period is considered instrumental and extraordinary by the intelligence community generally and the CIA specifically. Head of the CIA at the time George Tenet described Khair as a "superstar" in global intelligence for his role. Another CIA operative who worked closely with Khair said that he (Khair) "set the standard for how we do it". [7]
King Abdullah II mentioned in his book that Khair was the one who discovered and stopped an Iraqi plot to poison the water supply in Zarqa and nearby locations which would have killed thousands of innocent Jordanians. [8]
During the Suisse secrets investigation it became known that he had one Credit Suisse account of more than 28 million Swiss francs, even though he qualified as a politically exposed person. His brother and wife held accounts of 13 and 6 million francs, respectively. [6]
The character ‘Hani Salaam’ in the Sir Ridley Scott film Body of Lies is said to have been largely inspired by the six-year tenure of Sa’ad Khair as the GID chief. David Ignatius, author of the novel on which the film is based, has written about his encounter with Khair and modelling the character after him. Both the story and the film feature incidents directly inspired by Saad Khair’s experiences as the spy chief, as the author says, the part where Hani Salaam meets with a jihadist making him talk with his mother on phone and the fearsome spy headquarters’ being called the ‘fingernail factory’ are among a few. The first incident, in real life, took place in an 'Eastern European city where Khair with his team tracked down an undercover jihadist in an apartment and made him talk with his mother on phone in an attempt to force him emotionally in 'changing side' to the Jordanian government. [9]
‘Hani Salaam’ was portrayed by British actor Mark Strong, whose performance in the film got particular critical acclaim because of its notable suavity and illusiveness, which according to the original author reflected the personality of Sa’ad Khair. [9]
Abdullah I bin Al-Hussein was the ruler of Jordan from 11 April 1921 until his assassination in 1951. He was the Emir of Transjordan, a British protectorate, until 25 May 1946, after which he was king of an independent Jordan. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Abdullah was a 38th-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.
Faisal Akef Al-Fayez is a Jordanian politician who was the 34th Prime Minister of Jordan from 25 October 2003 to 6 March 2005. He took office following the resignation of Ali Abu al-Ragheb. He resigned after being criticized for not being reformist enough. He previously served as defence minister and is close to the king. He was educated at the College De La Salle, Amman, Jordan (1970) and then went on to Cardiff University, United Kingdom, where he received a degree in political science in 1978. In 1981, he has a master's degree in international relations from Boston University.
The Beni Sakhar confederacy is one of the largest and most influential tribal confederacies in Jordan. The Bani Sakher began migrating to Jordan as early as the 16th century and grew to become an influential tribe as by around the mid 18th century. According to the 1986 Jordanian Electoral Law, the Bani Sakher tribe is made up of fourteen clans: Al-Fayez; AL-Jahawsheh; Al-Khirshan; Al-Jbour; Al-Salim; Al-Badareen; Al-Gudah; Al-Hammad; Al-Shra'ah and Al-Zaben ; Al-Ghbein; Al-Amir; Al-Ka'abna; Al-Hgeish; Al-Saleet, and Al-Taybeen.
Fayez Tarawneh was a Jordanian independent politician, who served twice as the 31st Prime Minister of Jordan, and also as Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court.
Saad is a common male Arabic given name which means 'friend / companion'. The name stems from the Arabic verb sa‘ada.
Body of Lies is a 2008 American spy action thriller film directed and produced by Ridley Scott, written by William Monahan, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe in the lead roles. Set in the Middle East, it follows the attempts of the CIA and the GID of Jordan to catch "al-Saleem", a terrorist. Frustrated by their target's elusiveness, differences in their approaches strain relations between a CIA operative, his superior, and the head of Jordanian Intelligence. The supporting cast features Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, and Golshifteh Farahani.
Barazin, also spelled Barazayn, is a town in the Amman Governorate of north-western Jordan.
Sheikh Barjas Shaher Sayel Al-Hadid -, also known locally as Abu NidalBarjas Al Hadid, is Sheikh of the famous Jordanian Al-Hadid tribe and member of the Parliament of Jordan. As well as being leader of the 30,000-member Balqa Governorate-based Al-Hadid tribe, Barjas Al-Hadid was formerly a member of the Royal Jordanian Air Force. As Sheikh, Al-Hadid's duties have included mediating in disputes, including blood feuds, which arise between Jordanian tribe and clan members, within whose families tribal law still exists. Significant numbers of the Al-Hadid tribe are also found in Syria; where they come under the name Hadidi, the Sheikh has been dispatched in the past to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen in order to mediate.
Samir Zaid al-Rifai is a Jordanian politician who was the 38th Prime Minister of Jordan from 14 December 2009 to 9 February 2011.
The Adwan Rebellion or the Balqa Revolt was the largest uprising against the newly established Transjordanian government, headed by Mezhar Ruslan, during its first years.
Haditha Ali Abdullah Al-Khraisha was a Bedouin tribal sheikh in Jordan in the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries. Haditha was one of the two paramount sheikhs of the Bani Sakhr Tribe, arguably the most powerful tribe in Jordan. Haditha headed the northern clans of the Bani Sakher (al-Ka'abnah), while Mithgal Al-Fayez headed the other half, (al-Twaga). In the early twentieth century, Haditha and the Bani Sakhr, in addition to other Trans-Jordanian tribes such as the Huweitat and the Belqawiah, fought the Wahhabi Ikhwan, a religious militia who helped establish Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud as the first King of Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabi Ikhwan were Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud's tool for territorial expansion and lent religious legitimacy to Ibn Saud's territorial and political ambitions. According to King Faisal Al Saud the armed resistance that Bani Sakhr put up against Ibn Saud and the Wahhabi Ikhwan was "the reason that Saudi Arabia's borders do not extend all the way to Palestine and why the Al Sauds never became the rulers of the Levant". Haditha was known throughout Arabia for his wisdom and chivalry, He played a significant role in building the nascent Jordanian state and shaping its development. An ally and supporter of King Abdullah I, Haditha served several terms as Senator and Parliamentarian, including the first Jordanian Senate in 1947 which consisted of only ten members. Haditha was also elected to the second Legislative Council in June 1931, and the Fourth Legislative Council in 1937 while Jordan was still an Emirate. Haditha was also one of the founding members of the Jordanian Solidarity Party in March 1933. Sheikh Haditha also cultivated the oasis of Azraq, Jordan.
Mithqal Sattam Fendi Al Fayez (Arabic: مثقال الفايز, was a historical Jordanian political and tribal figure whose work helped the establishment of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Mithqal was one of the two leading sheikhs of Bani Sakhr; he took power in the early twentieth century, and headed the Al-Twaga half of the Bani Sakhr tribe, which consisted of the Al-Ghbein, Al-Amir, Al-Ka'abna, Al-Hgeish, Al-Saleet, and Al-Taybeen clans. He also headed his own clan, Al-Fayez.
Amer Talal Al-Fayez (Arabic: عامر طلال مثقال الفايز, is a Jordanian statesman and politician that served as the Head of Royal Protocol and is currently the president and chairman at Al-Abdali Investment & Development PSC.
The House of Fayez(Arabic: الفايز or, colloquially: Al-Fayez, Alfayez, Al Fayez, Al Faiz, Al Fayiz) is a noble sheikhly Jordanian family that heads the major Jordanian clan Bani Sakher. The family's influence and prominence in the region was at its ultimate under Fendi Al-Fayez, who led the family in the 1840s and gradually became the leader of the entire Bani Sakher. Fendi would rule large parts of Jordan and Palestine, including the ancient Kingdoms of Moab and Ammon, and parts of modern-day Saudi Arabia until the late 1860s when a series of battles with the Ottoman Empire decreased the family's resources and claimed a portion of its holdings. After Fendi, his young son Sattam led the tribe in a push to cultivate the lands and live a more sedentary lifestyle, then under Mithqal Alfayez as a permanent political power in modern Jordan. The family was the largest owner of land in Jordan and owned portions of modern day Palestine, and Mithqal was the single largest owner of private land in the kingdom in 1922. The Al-Fayez family is active in Jordanian and Arabian politics and is currently headed by former Prime Minister Faisal Al-Fayez.
Akef Mithqal Al-Fayez was a Jordanian politician born in Amman, Jordan. He held several ministerial positions and became speaker of the Jordanian Parliament for several sessions and a member of the Jordanian Senate.
Fendi Abbas Awad Al Fayez was an Arab leader from the Al-Fayez family who was the chief Sheikh of the Bani Sakher Clan from the 1820s up until his death. He is widely regarded as the most influential figure in the Bani Sakher and one of the most powerful tribal figures in Arabia in the 19th century. Fendi's first documented tribal battle was as early as 1820 when he was just twenty years old.
Sattam Fendi Abbas Al Fayez (Arabic: سطام الفايز, was an emir who led the Bani Sakher tribe from 1881 until his death in 1891. He was the de facto ruler of the Bani Sakher after his father Fendi Al-Fayez gave him most of his responsibilities in the late 1870s, and was the first person to have led Westerners to view the Moabite Stone in 1868. Sattam was also the first tribal sheikh to begin cultivating land in the 1860s, which began the sedentary settlement process of many of the biggest tribes in Jordan. In September 1881, after the reunification of the Al-Fayez family under Sattam, he was recognized by the Ottoman Administration as the Emir of Al-Jizah and the paramount Shaykh of the Bani Sakher clan.
Trad Mithqal Al-Fayez is a Jordanian politician born in Amman, Jordan. He was the minister of Agriculture, an ambassador of Jordan to multiple countries, and a member of the Jordanian senate.
Mohammad Enad Al-Fayez is a Jordanian politician and former member of the Jordanian Parliament who was fired from the Parliament following his message to Prince Mohammed Bin Salman that requested that he suspend aid to Jordan until more anti-corruption measures were in place.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)