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King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa arrived in Jordan on 27 August to discuss Syria and bilateral co-operation with King Abdullah II.

The British press has reported that Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Misnad, the influential wife of Qatar’s emir, was behind the purchase of a £27m ($43m) stake in high-end UK accessories designer Anya Hindmarch.

Prince Abdelaziz, son of the late King Fahd, was in the news in mid-July as he vowed to block a series from being broadcast during Ramadan. He took umbrage at the Middle East Broadcasting Company’s (MBC’s) intention to show the ‘Umar Al-Farooq’ series about some of the Prophet Mohammed’s close companions.

Asir governor Prince Faisal, now the only prominent son of King Khalid, has chaired the first meeting of the Asir Region Youth Council. Following protests by students at King Khalid University in Abha in March, he promised that a council made up of 40 male and female youths would be formed.

Prince Miteb, Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) commander and King Abdullah’s son, was in Qassim just before the start of Ramadan, where he visited a SANG base.

Sheikh Mishal Al-Malik Al-Sabah – an extended family member of Kuwait’s ruling Al-Sabah – was detained for several days after posting comments on Twitter accusing the authorities of corruption and calling for political reform.

Following his early July meeting in Doha with Tunisian interior minister Ali Laarayedh (GSN 927/7), heir apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad has visited Tunisia for two days of talks.

Prince Mohammed, who during the reign of his father King Saud was a favourite to succeed him, died in early July. Born in the 1930s, he had a long career in government, serving as royal chamberlain and diwan head in the 1950s and defence minister in the early 1960s. He was Baha Province governor for some two decades before stepping down in August 2010 (GSN 884/8, 849/5).

In mid-July, Crown Prince Salman had meetings with former British prime minister and Quartet special envoy Tony Blair and US Central Command chief General James Mattis.

A daughter of Prince Talal Bin Abdelaziz has claimed political asylum in the UK, saying she fears for her safety. Princess Sara accuses senior Saudi officials of having subjected her to a “well orchestrated and malicious campaign of persecution”.

Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, wife of King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, was in St Petersburg on 2 July to inaugurate an exhibition at the Hermitage Museum.

HBJ: New property; TAMIM BIN HAMAD: Tunisia

CROWN PRINCE SALMAN: Condolences and meetings; AHMED BIN ABDELAZIZ: Sworn in; ABDELAZIZ BIN ABDULLAH: Africa tour

Generational change remains off the agenda, as the Saudi leadership moved with unusual speed to confirm Ibn Saud sons Salman and Ahmed as crown prince and interior minister after Prince Nayef’s death. Quick decision-making was needed to counter mounting demographic and geopolitical pressure

Following the death of Crown Prince Nayef Bin Abdelaziz in Switzerland on 16 June, apparently from cardiac failure, his body was kept in state at the Geneva Mosque before being flown to Jeddah on 18 June on a special Saudi Arabian Airlines flight.