Search results

Sheikha Budoor: Emir names daughter as Shorouq head, Hoor Bint Sultan: Sharjah Biennial

Crown Prince and interior minister Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef on 10 February received a medal from the new US Central Intelligence Agency head Michael Pompeo, in recognition of his counter-terrorism work.

On 27 November, Crown Prince Salman said King Abdullah was “well and in good health” after back surgery on 17 November. A day earlier, Salman had “reassured” Saudis about the king’s health at a cabinet meeting.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s new Bahrain-based satellite television channel, Al-Arab, went on air on 1 February, but was suspended the next day. The channel – hoping to find slightly more liberal airwaves in Bahrain than in Saudi Arabia – had broadcast an interview with opposition politician Khalil Al-Marzooq, assistant to Al-Wefaq secretary-general Sheikh Ali Salman, whose ongoing trial has caused significant protests. Marzooq criticised the trial as politically motivated.

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said travelled to Dubai on 23 October for talks with Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

Reshuffle MBS style: The reappointment to government on 25 February of Khalid Al-Falih – after he was removed as energy minister last year – to head a new Ministry for Investment highlighted Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s style of government. Despite his apparent fall from grace during a difficult period for his industrial strategy and the Saudi Aramco listing, Falih is one of a small group of trusted officials through whom MBS promotes his rule.

Seven years after a succession crisis shattered Kuwait’s delicate domestic political balance (GSN 774/1), the emirate is gearing up for another battle over the country’s leadership. Kuwait’s 84-year-old Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in power since January 2006, remains in good health, though he has worn a pacemaker since 1999. Nonetheless, questions are increasingly being asked about the next succession. Kuwait is a hereditary emirate, and only the descendants of Mubarak Al-Sabah, known as Mubarak the Great (r. 1896-1915), may be emir; traditionally, heirs are chosen from the Al-Salem and Al-Jaber branches of the family, by a ruling family council.

‘Success’ for president’s treatment

Federal vice president and prime minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum hosted scores of world leaders and senior officials during the seventh running of the World Government Summit, held over three days in Dubai from 10 February. Among those he held meetings with were China’s science and technology minister Wang Zhigang, Estonia’s prime minister Juri Ratas, Lebanon’s prime minister Saad Al-Hariri, Mauritanian President Mohammad Ould Abdel Aziz, Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan, United States energy secretary Rick Perry and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.

King Salman is set for a five-nation Asian tour in March, visiting Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Maldives. An Indonesian minister has said the king will be in his country for a week, suggesting it will be a long trip.

Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Misnad was at Oxford University on 26 May to open a new £11m ($16.7m) glass-fronted centre for Middle East studies designed by Iraqi-born architect Dame Zaha Hadid. Speaking at St Antony’s College, the emir’s mother spoke out about the danger of growing Islamophobia in Europe. “Why is it that world leaders gathered to march in defence of Charlie Hebdo, while the Chapel Hill murders were shrugged off as a parking dispute?” she asked.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) used an interview with Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat to emphasise his re-emergence as dynamic force following a torrid several months following the Khashoggi affair and unsubstantiated rumours that his status had been downgraded by his father, King Salman Bin Abdelaziz. In his interview, published on 16 June, MBS took robust positions on several issues:

Reaction to the 14 February appointment of Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdelaziz to the Riyadh governorship, following the death of Prince Sattam Bin Abdelaziz, has mostly been ‘Who?’ But GSN sources have largely made positive noises about a manoeuvre which included choosing Prince Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz, like Khalid a member of the so-called third generation, as deputy.

Geopolitics; Reappointed in Qassim; Football club talks; Compensation; Marriage

Interim Tunisian prime minister Ali Laarayedh arrived in Jeddah on 6 July on a state visit. He was received at King Abdelaziz International airport by Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdelaziz; also in attendance were governor of Mecca region Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, governor of Jeddah Prince Mishal Bin Majid, chief of the crown prince’s court Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdelaziz and other senior officials.