Kerry valued services of former Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal
Monitoring Desk: US Secretary of State John Kerry has indicated that he will continue to seek counsel of former Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Saud al-Faisal who was replaced by the Saudi King during a massive reshuffle in Saudi cabinet.
In a Press Statement issued by US Department of State today, Secretary of State John Kerry was of the view that “Prince Saud will be greatly missed”
“During four decades at the highest levels of international diplomacy, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal helped guide Saudi Arabia through an ever-more-complicated world. I will continue to seek his counsel and value his friendship, forged over many hours spent discussing the challenges our nations face”, said Kerry in his statement.
Kerry said that Prince Saud would greatly be missed and he (Kerry) would look forward to continuing to work closely with his successor, Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel Al-Jubeir.
According to Wikipedia, Saud bin Faisal was born in Taif on 2 January 1940 as second son of former King Faisal. He attended the Hun School of Princeton and graduated from Princeton University in 1964 or 1965 with a bachelor of arts degree in economics. In 1966, he was appointed in petroleum and mineral resources (Petromin) ministry. In February 1970, he became deputy governor of Petromin for planning affairs. He was appointed as the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia in March 1975 and was a key figure during Afghan Jihad as he was focal person for Jihad strategy and its funding while closely working with US administration.
He was replaced by Adel al-Jubeir, former Saudi ambassador to the United States by the King on April 29, 2015.
