Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was a Saudi Arabian statesman and politician who served as King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 25 March 1975 to his death in 1982. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 29 March 1965 to 25 March 1975. He was the fifth son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.
The House of Saud is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling faction of the family is primarily led by the descendants of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, the modern founder of Saudi Arabia. It forms a subtribe of the larger prominent ancient Banu Hanifa tribe of Arabia, of which well known 7th century Arabian theologist Maslama ibn Ḥabīb originates. The most influential position of the royal family is the King of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarch. The family in total is estimated to comprise 10,000 to 20,000 members; however, the majority of power, influence and wealth is possessed by a group of about 2,000 of them. Some estimates of the royal family's wealth measure their net worth at anywhere from as low as $500 billion to as high as $3 trillion. This figure includes the market capitalization of Saudi Aramco, the state oil and gas company, and its vast assets in fossil fuel reserves, making them the wealthiest family in the world and the wealthiest in recorded history.
Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is a member of House of Saud who served as deputy minister of interior from 1975 to 2012 and briefly as minister of interior in 2012. He was detained in March 2020 on the orders of his brother and nephew, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, respectively, and charged with treason.
Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud was a Saudi Arabian businessman, politician, and poet who held multiple posts in the Saudi government throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Prince Abdullah was the eldest son of King Faisal. He served as the governor of Hejaz during the reign of his grandfather King Abdulaziz, and as the minister of health and interior during the reigns of his grandfather and his uncle King Saud. These positions made him one of the most powerful Saudi Arabian royals of his time.
Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for Middle East Eye and The Washington Post, and a general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel who was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 by agents of the Saudi government at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Russia–Saudi Arabia relations are the bilateral relations between Russian Federation and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two countries are referred to as the two petroleum superpowers and account for about a quarter of the world's crude oil production between them.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) are neighbouring countries in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, and share extensive political and cultural ties. Saudi Arabia maintains an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai of the U.A.E., while the U.A.E. has an embassy in Riyadh and a consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Gabriel Allon is the main protagonist in Daniel Silva's thriller and espionage series that focuses on Israeli intelligence. The main characters refer to their employer as 'the Office', although it is not specified that it is Mossad. Allon's career began in 1972 when he, Eli Lavon and several others were plucked from civilian life by Ari Shamron to participate in Operation Wrath of God, an act of vengeance to hunt down and eliminate those responsible for killing the Israeli athletes in Munich. Wrath of God is referenced in the books throughout the course of his life.
The king of Saudi Arabia, officially the king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the monarch and head of state/head of government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is the supreme commander-in-chief of the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and the head of the Saudi national honors system. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", a title that signifies Saudi Arabia's jurisdiction over the mosques of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. The title has been used many times through the history of Islam. The first Saudi king to use the title was Faisal; however, King Khalid did not use the title after him. In 1986, King Fahd replaced "His Majesty" with the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and it has been since used by both King Abdullah and King Salman. The king has been named the most powerful and influential Muslim and Arab leader in the world according to the Muslim 500.
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, also known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. He is also the chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and the chairman of the Council of Political and Security Affairs. He is considered the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, being deemed as such even before his appointment as prime minister in 2022. He was minister of defense from 2015 to 2022. He is the seventh son of King Salman.
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia is the second-most important position in Saudi Arabia, second to the King, and is his designated successor. Currently, the Crown Prince assumes power with the approval of the Allegiance Council after he is nominated by the King. This system was introduced to the country during the reign of King Abdullah. In the absence of the King, an order is issued to have the Crown Prince manage the affairs of the state until the King's return.
Faisal bin Turki I Al Saud (1920–1968) was a Saudi royal and politician. He was the only son of Prince Turki I and the eldest grandson of King Abdulaziz. He served as minister of interior during the reign of King Saud, his uncle and step-father, and was the country's first minister of labour and social affairs. Although he was very close to King Saud, Prince Faisal was one of the Saudi royals who signed the document that asked Saud to abdicate in 1964.
Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri is a former major-general, minister of state and long-time adviser to deposed Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef of Saudi Arabia. He has been living in exile in Canada since May 2017. The Saudi government has unsuccessfully sought to have him extradited back to Saudi Arabia on charges of corruption. Al Jabri has accused the Saudi government of orchestrating assassination attempts on him and of holding two of his children, along with other relatives, as hostages in a bid to force his return.
Khalid bin Salman Al Saud is a Saudi Arabian diplomat, and politician who serves as the Saudi Arabian minister of defense. He was appointed defense minister on 27 September 2022. He is the tenth child and ninth son of King Salman and the younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The 2017–19 Saudi Arabian purge was the mass arrest of a number of prominent Saudi Arabian princes, government ministers, and business people in Saudi Arabia on 4 November 2017 and the following few weeks after the creation of an anti-corruption committee led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist, was killed by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi operatives. His body was dismembered and disposed of. The consulate had been secretly bugged by the Turkish government and Khashoggi's final moments were captured in audio recordings, transcripts of which were subsequently made public.
The Tiger Squad, officially called the Rapid Intervention Force, is a protective security unit under the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. According to an unnamed source interviewed by the London-based online news outlet Middle East Eye following the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 and a BBC source inside Saudi Arabia who has a relative in the squad, it is a Saudi team that consists of approximately fifty Saudi officers.
Saud bin Abdullah al-Qahtani is a Saudi Arabian consultant and former royal court advisor. Prior to his dismissal in late 2018, he worked as an advisor to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, journalist for The Washington Post and former general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel, occurred on 2 October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and was denounced by the majority of the international community.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah bin Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is a Saudi Arabian diplomat and politician and a member of the House of Saud. Prince Faisal has served as the current Saudi ambassador to Germany since 27 March 2019. He has also served as foreign minister of Saudi Arabia since 23 October 2019, when he was appointed to that position by a royal decree issued by King Salman. Prince Faisal was born in Frankfurt, West Germany and spent a part of his childhood and young adulthood in that country, which is why he speaks fluent German according to German news media.
