Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 5 September 1926 – 3 May 2017) was a Saudi Arabian politician and businessman. A member of the

House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), and ...

, he held different cabinet posts in the 1950s and was the chairman of the

Allegiance Council The Allegiance Council ( ar, هيئة البيعة ''Hay’at al-Bay‘ah''), also known as the Allegiance Commission or Allegiance Institution or Succession Commission, is the body responsible for determining future succession to the throne of ...

from 2007 to 2017.

Early life

Prince Mishaal was born on 5 September 1926. He was the thirteenth son of

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...

. He was the full brother of Prince Mansour, Prince Mutaib and Princess Qumash who died on 26 September 2011. Their mother was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

woman, Shahida, (died 1938), who reportedly was the favorite wife of King Abdulaziz. She was of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

origin.

Career

Prince Mishaal served as the minister of defense from 12 May 1951 to 1953. He replaced his full brother Prince Mansour as minister of defense when he died in 1951. Until that date, Prince Mishaal served as deputy minister of defense. When Prince Mishaal became minister, his younger full brother Prince Mutaib was appointed his deputy. As minister of defense, Prince Mishaal became one of the most affluent princes in the Al Saud family. He bought state land for very cheap prices and yielded extraordinary profits. But because of his lack of education and experience, Prince Mishaal let the ministry remain completely unorganized. He leaned heavily on advice and recommendation from foreign counsel. He wielded significant influence in King Abdulaziz's government. Because of Mishaal's considerable power, King Abdulaziz countered his influence by appointing

Abdullah bin Faisal Abdullah may refer to: * Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village * ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan * '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...

as minister of health and interior. At the same time, King Abdulaziz established the ministry of air force under Prince Mishaal to prevent flight-related matters from going under Prince Talal, the minister of communication. Since Mishaal and Talal could not agree, Saudi Arabia was to have two airline fleets. But in April 1955, Prince Talal resigned from the office, and the ministry of communication was merged with the ministry of finance. In May 1955,

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 ...

created a renewed modern

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 ...

which was led by Saud's son Prince Khalid who replaced a commoner. This move weakened Prince Mishaal due to the fact that he had often used the old National Guard's resources. Prince Mishaal's tenure as minister of defense ended in 1956 when he was dismissed by King Saud because of his alleged pro-Nasserist views and corruption claims. Prince Fahd bin Saud, a son of King Saud, replaced him in the post. In 1957 Prince Mishaal was made a member of the council of the minister as an advisor to King Saud. Mishaal and his full-brother Mutaib returned to favour in 1963 under regent and later King Faisal who entrusted them a key governorship and deputy governorship, respectively. Specifically, Mishaal served as governor of

Makkah Province The Mecca Province ( ar, مِنْطَقَة مَكَّة '), also known as the Mecca Region, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the third-largest province by area at and the most populous with a population of 8,557,766 as of 201 ...

from 1963 to 1971. In 1969 Prince Mishaal was also made the head of the Saudi Tourism Authority. Both Mishaal and Mutaib resigned from their posts in 1971 for reasons that are not entirely clear. Prince Mishaal was appointed chairman of the Allegiance Council on 10 December 2007.

Succession to the throne

Mishaal bin Abdulaziz protested more than once that he should have been crown prince since he served as both a governor and a minister and was older than some of his brothers. It is argued that he was immediately excluded from the competition for the title of crown prince by the

Sudairi brothers The Sudairi Seven ( ar, السديريون السبعة, ''As Sudayriyyūn as Sabʿah''), also spelled ''Sudairy'' or ''Sudayri'', is the commonly used name for a powerful alliance of seven full brothers within the Saudi royal family. They are al ...

. One of the reasons for his exclusion was his low-level relations with

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

Influence

Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was impartial in family politics, although he was known to incline towards King Abdallah or be one of King Abdullah's close allies. His neutral stance made him the perfect choice to be the chairman of the Allegiance Council. This role was considered to be a significant position, giving him influence in the decision-making process in regard to succession.

Business activities

Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was a leading businessman, with substantial investments in real estate, insurance, electrical utilities, oil trading and cement manufacture. He was chairman of the board of Yanbu Cement company, established in 1976. He founded

Al Shoula Group Al Shoula Group was founded in 1970, and the founder was Mishaal Al Saud. Beginning with investments in insurance and real estate, it expanded into oil trading and ordinance support. Al Shoula's administrative control has been passed on to Prince ...

in 1970, which is a major investor in real estate developments throughout the Middle East partnering with such investors as Dubai's

Emaar Emaar Properties (Emaar Developments or simply Emaar) is an Emirati multinational real estate development company located in the United Arab Emirates. It is a public joint-stock company, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, and has a valuation ...

Group, Kuwait's Bayt Al Mal Investment Company, and the Al Rajhi family's Tameer Group. Al Shoula's wholly owned subsidiary, Dhahran Global, is active in broad areas of the petroleum and

petrochemical industry The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics (polymer) industry. It directly interfaces with the petroleum industry, especially the downstream sector. Compan ...

including pipeline development, oil and gas production, oilfield services and international product trading. The CEO of Al Shoula Group was his son Prince Abdulaziz who was appointed to the post in the late 1990s. Prince Mishaal was one of the founders of the Dar Al Maal Al Islami Trust which was initiated by

Mohammed bin Faisal Al Saud Mohammed bin Faisal Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن فيصل آل سعود, ''Moḥammed bin Fayṣal Āl Saʿūd''; 1937–14 January 2017) was a Saudi prince and businessman. He was a son of King Faisal and was one of the pioneers in the establishm ...

, King Faisal's son, in 1981. Another of Mishaal's firms, Mishaal International, along with its German and Chinese partners, was the leading contender to build much of the Kingdom's new multibillion-dollar railway system. He was also the owner of Shola Shopping Center in Riyadh.

Charity

In the early 1970s Prince Mishaal allocated land in Mecca for the foundation of

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

which would assist

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

families whose children had been killed during the operations against Israel.

Controversy

In 2013 Faisal Almhairat, a Jordanian businessman and Prince Mishaal's former business partner, alleged that Prince Mishaal and his son, Prince Abdulaziz, involved in

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

activity for various rich individuals and groups, including

Hizbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

, and opened a case in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Personal life

Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was a supporter of the traditional

camel racing Camel racing is a popular sport in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia. Professional camel racing, like horse racing, is an event for betting and tourist attraction. Camels can run at speeds up to ...

and horse racing, and had valuable racing camels and horses. Each year, he patronized camel races in the kingdom. He also dealt with traditional falconry. One of his sons, Mohammed bin Mishaal, died at age 58 in February 2005. His other sons include Prince Faisal, Prince Mansour and Prince Bandar. Prince Faisal is the son-in-law of former Crown Prince Sultan, and his spouse is Princess Latifa. Abdulaziz bin Fahd married Al Anoud bint Faisal in December 2010. In October 2009 Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was rushed to hospital in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, apparently having suffered a stroke. Then, he returned to Saudi Arabia from unspecified medical treatment in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

in December 2009. Mishaal died on 3 May 2017 at the age of 90 according to the

Saudi Press Agency The Saudi Press Agency (SPA; ar, وكالة الأنباء السعودية) is the official news agency of Saudi Arabia. History and profile The agency was established in 1970 as the first national news agency in Saudi Arabia. The agency is a ...

Ancestry

References

External links

Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saud, Mishaal Abdulaziz

Mishaal ''Mishaal'' is a Pakistani television play/drama. It was aired by PTV Home, PTV in 2009. It has 17 episodes. It was written, produced and directed by Abdul Rauf Khalid. Plot ''Mishaal'' is an Urdu language TV drama. It is a crime thriller dra ...

1926 births 2017 deaths Defense ministers of Saudi Arabia