Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( Aḥmed bin ʿAbdulʿazīz Āl Suʿūd; born 5 September 1942) 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.

Early life and education

Prince Ahmed was born in Riyadh on 5 September 1942. He is the son of King Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) and Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, and is the youngest of the Sudairi brothers. Prince Ahmed is supposedly the 31st son of King Abdulaziz.

Ahmed bin Abdulaziz completed secondary education in 1961. He enrolled at the University of Redlands in 1962 and graduated in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in government and political science.

Early career

After his graduation, Prince Ahmed dealt with business and was the chairman of the National Gypsum Company from 1969 to 1970.

As deputy interior minister (also translated as vice minister), he served under Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; at the time, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef was assistant interior minister. The interior ministry played a key role in Saudi Arabia's state security apparatus (with a total 2003 internal security budget of US$7 billion), with a counterterrorism mandate, especially after the Riyadh compound bombings of May 2003.

In the early 1980s, in the wake of the riots in the Eastern Province in 1979, Prince Ahmed was tasked with introducing reforms to improve the province, where the kingdom's Shi'ite minority lives. Prince Ahmad acknowledged that the Saudi government had neglected the region and had discriminated against Shi'ites; he also promised massive investments in the development of Al Hasa's economic infrastructure, educational system, and other services. He also served as the vice president of the supreme commission for industrial security and chairman of preparatory committee for national security.

In 2006, Prince Ahmed called for construction of a fence along the Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, which he said was not a "segregation wall" but a border security measure.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi stated that Prince Ahmed was mostly involved in administrative matters instead of security during his tenure as deputy interior minister.

Prince Ahmed said in a press conference in 2011 that for women, driving is against the law. After his appointment as interior minister, it was argued that, like Salman, he was also a supporter of King Abdullah's cautious reform initiatives.

Interior minister (June–November 2012)

On 18 June 2012, one day after the burial of Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, King Abdullah promoted Prince Ahmed to interior minister. Abdul Rahman Al Rabiaan succeeded him as deputy interior minister. At the same time, Abdullah elevated Defense Minister Prince Salman to the position of crown prince, keeping the defense portfolio. Prince Ahmed was the chairman of the supreme hajj committee during his term as interior minister.

Speculation about succession

Nawaf E. Obaid argued in 2002 that three members of the House of Saud were especially popular, although many of them were believed to be corrupt. Prince Ahmed was one of these popular members; the others were Prince Abdullah (then crown prince) and Prince Salman (then Riyadh governor). Prince Ahmed was also seen as one of the potential candidates to the Saudi throne at the beginning of the 2000s. His appointment as interior minister in 2012 was also regarded at the time as a signal for the succession to the Saudi Arabian throne, with Ahmed deemed the most likely candidate to rule Saudi Arabia after King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman.

Ouster and exclusion from the succession

On 5 November 2012, Prince Ahmed was removed as interior minister, after a tenure of just a few months. Mohammed bin Nayef, who had been deputy interior minister, was named his successor. The ouster left Ahmed sidelined from power and without any major job. The official reason for Prince Ahmed's removal was given as his request. However, Ahmed's objection to dividing the security forces into independent units was one of the actual reasons for his dismissal.

On 1 February 2013 Prince Muqrin was appointed second deputy prime minister and on 27 March 2014 to the new position of deputy crown prince. In 2015, Crown Prince Salman became king, after the death of King Abdullah. At age 79, Salman's declining health fueled a bitter succession battle within the House of Saud over the succession. A reformist faction within the Saudi royal family favored Prince Ahmed for the position of crown prince, arguing that by birthright, Ahmed held a more legitimate claim to the throne than either Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef (MBN) or his rival, the young Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), one of Salman's sons. Ahmed bin Abdulaziz was one of three members of the Allegiance Council who did not support MBS's appointment as crown prince. While in Europe, he was openly critical of MBS, and reportedly met with members of dissenting factions within the Saudi royal house, which includes thousands of members. and his nephews, MBN and Nawwaf bin Nayef. The Saudi government claimed that the princes were plotting to overthrow Salman and MBS. Prince Ahmed apparently remains in detention, although in May 2022 Ahmed's eldest son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed (who has no formal government post), appeared with MBS as part of a Saudi delegation that traveled to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, in what was seen as a message intended to signal family unity.

Family and personal life

Ahmed bin Abdulaziz has two wives with whom he has five daughters and seven sons. One of his wives is Fahda bint Turki Al Sudairi. His eldest son, Abdulaziz, is former secretary general of Arab Ophthalmology and was born in Redlands, California, when Prince Ahmed was attending the University of Redlands. and was a colonel in the Saudi Armed Forces with responsibilities for strategic planning. He served as the head of land forces intelligence and security authority until his arrest on 7 March 2020.

One of Prince Ahmed's daughters, Falwa bint Ahmed, is married to Salman bin Sultan, former assistant general secretary of the National Security Council. Another, Noura, was the former wife of Faisal bin Abdullah Al Saud. Noura bint Ahmed, who was born in Redlands, California, in November 1968 is the third child of Prince Ahmed.

Ancestry

References

  • House of Saud Profile