Abdulaziz bin Abd al-Muhsin al-Tuwaijri (1912–2007), was a Saudi soldier and politician. He was deputy head of the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

under his friend and mentor Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and was later chief of the Crown Prince's Court when the Prince was

Heir Apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

and later

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. He was succeeded by his son Khaled, who himself became ''de facto'' prime minister of Saudi Arabia.

Career

Abdulaziz al-Tuwaijri was one of the editors of ''

Al Qassim AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

'', a weekly

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

paper, which had been launched by Abdullah Al Ali Al Sani in December 1959. Abdulaziz al-Tuwaijri first met Prince Abdullah in the 1960s, when the latter was made head of the National Guard. At the time, the Guard was an extremely small and disorganized force and the position was meant as a sop while

King Saud Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Suʿūd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 15 January 1902 – 23 February 1969) was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 ...

and

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

Feisal were locked in a deadly power struggle. Al-Tuwaijri advised the Prince to turn what might be a dead-end nominal position into a real opportunity to get real power. Intrigued, Prince Abdullah brought Al-Tuwaijri on board as his deputy, and over the years the two created a modern and sophisticated force. They not only developed its military capabilities, but also ensured its members were provided with top-class housing, medical care and education. This transformed the National Guard into an independent empire loyal to Abdullah. To many the success of the National Guard was due to the hard work and foresight of al-Tuwaijri, who became Prince Abdullah's close confidant and special advisor. While known to be completely loyal to the Saudi

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitut ...

, al-Tuwaijri was also known to have

Ba'athist Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation a ...

sympathies. He was friends with Egyptian President

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

. During Saudi – Egyptian tensions over competing regional interests, Tuwaijri demonstrated his excellent political skills by acting as a go-between of Nasser and King Faisal and publicly supporting both sides. Tuwaijri shied away from the media spotlight. Some joked that he didn't exist because while they had heard of his influence they had never actually seen him. Following the murder of King Faisal in 1975, Prince Abdullah was appointed second deputy prime minister, and al Tuwaijri continued as his top aide and advisor, and when Abdullah became Crown Prince, he became chief of the Crown Prince Court. Abdullah kept him at his side when he became regent in the mid-1990s. He became the most powerful non-royal citizen in the country until he retired in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuwaijri, Abdulaziz 1912 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Saudi Arabian politicians People from Riyadh Province Saudi Arabian military personnel