Something bad is going on in Saudi Arabia.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, flew out of Washington yesterday after informing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his staff that he would be leaving the post after only 15 months on the job, according to U.S. officials and foreign envoys. There has been no formal announcement from the kingdom.
The abrupt departure is particularly striking because his predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, spent 22 years on the job. The Saudi ambassador is one of the most influential diplomatic positions in Washington and is arguably the most important overseas post for the oil-rich desert kingdom.
Turki, a long-serving former intelligence chief, told his staff yesterday afternoon that he wanted to spend more time with his family, according to Arab diplomats. Colleagues said they were shocked at the decision.
The exit — without the fanfare, parties and tributes that normally accompany a leading envoy’s departure, much less a public statement — comes as his brother, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the highly influential Saudi foreign minister, is ailing.
I obviously don’t know what this means, but I know it is very significant. It could be that Saud al-Faisal is seriously ill and that Turki al-Faisal is going to take over as foreign minister. It could indicate severe tensions in the U.S./Saudi relationship. It is highly suspicious that Turki would choose such a critical time to go home. Bush is planning on rolling out his new Iraq strategy sometime before Christmas. In my analysis, that means right now is the time to for the Saudis to use all their influence to guide Bush’s decisions.
Perhaps they have determined that Bush’s strategy is fundamentally incompatible with their interests. Perhaps this is their way of showing thier displeasure.
On the other hand, maybe Turki has worn out his welcome here, or our intelligence agencies have discovered something ugly, like Faisal has been working with terrorists (here, or in Iraq).
All I know is that this is an earth-shaking event within the foreign policy establishment.
