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Pragmatic Non-Royal to be Next Saudi Ambassador to the United States

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001834.php

December 20, 2006
SCOOP: Pragmatic Non-Royal to be Next Saudi Ambassador to the United States

For Saudi watchers, some fascinating news has just made its way to The
Washington Note.

A former staffer at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, ADEL AL-JUBEIR,
who
comes from a distinguished, yet non-royal family, has risen to such
levels of esteem in the estimation of Saudia Arabia's King Abdullah
that
he has been appointed the next Saudi Ambassador to the United States.

This is quite remarkable news. One of the rumored successors to Prince
Turki al-Faisal, who recently resigned as Ambassador in Washington with
plans to depart at the end of January 2007, was Prince Turki's cousin,
Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al-Saud, who is currently Saudi Arabia's
Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Prince Mohammed succeeded Prince
Turki
in London after having served as Ambassador to Italy after Turki was
assigned to Washington. Many expected Prince Mohammed to move to
Washington, but family concerns kept the Ambassador in the United Kingdom.

Wanting someone trusted and close -- closer than family to some degree
-- King Abdullah has now appointed his personal foreign policy advisor
to serve as his Ambassador in Washington. Abdullah met the relatively
young Adel al-Jubeir in Washington some years ago -- when he was
Director of Communications at the Embassy. Adel's brother, Nail
Al-Jubeir, now holds the very same position that Adel once heldo in
Saudi Arabia's Washington Embassy.

For those following the tension between two former Ambassadors --
Prince
Turki al-Faisal and Prince Bandar bin Sultan -- Adel al-Jubeir was once
housed in the very same office (no walls) with Rihab Massoud, the close
aide to Saudi National Security Advisor and former Ambassador to the US
Prince Bandar. Massoud has been depicted by many as the
"animater-in-chief" of the escalating tension between the current and
immediate past Ambassadors.

Massoud, according to sources, was constantly at odds with Adel
al-Jubeir and worked to have him demoted and assigned to issues that
were considered peripheral in the Embassy. Then Crown Prince Abudullah,
after briefly meeting al-Jubeir on a trip to the United States,
requested that he become the Crown Prince's foreign policy advisor.

The fundamental tension between Prince Turki and Prince Bandar revolves
around both the management of political relations with the White House
as well as a split in the Saudi government's views on potential US
military action against Iran.

The King has now appointed someone whose views on the matter are
unknown
-- but who may have a "complicated past" with one of Bandar's chief
retainers. This doesn't necessarily mean that Prince Turki's views are
preferable to the King -- but it does mean that the King both wants to
hold his cards close to the vest, and doesn't want to allow a royal
escalation of tensions to continue by appointing a "successor royal" to
the DC Embassy.

Adel al-Jubeir's appointment will be formally announced after the U.S.
Department of State notifies the Saudi government that al-Jubeir's
credentials will be accepted. "No problems are anticipated," according
to an insider source.