Mutaib bin Abdullah Al Saud ( ar, متعب بن عبد الله آل سعود, ''Mutaʿib bin ʿAbdullāh ʾĀl Suʿūd'', alternative spelling Miteb; born 26 March 1952) is a
Saudi prince
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), an ...
and military officer who served as
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
's minister 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 ...
from 2013 to 2017. Previously he was commander of the National Guard from 2010 to 2013. He was arrested on 4 November 2017 along with other Saudi princes including
Prince Al Waleed. He was stripped of his position as minister on the same day. He was released on 28 November 2017 after agreeing an "acceptable settlement" with authorities of more than $1 billion (£750m).
Early life and education
Prince Mutaib was born on 26 March 1952. However, there is another report, giving his birth year as 1953 or 12 October 1953.
Concerning birth place the reports also vary in that some argue that he was born in Riyadh, but another one claims that his birth place is al Ulya, a village in northern Saudi Arabia.
[ His mother was Munira bint Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Otaishan who died in December 2020.
Mutaib is one of 36 children and the third son of King Abdullah.]
Mutaib bin Abdullah and his older brother Khalid
Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname. attended the Taif-Barmana School in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
and secondary school in Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
. Later, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...
as a lieutenant in 1974. He received a master's degree at King Khalid Military College
''King Khalid Military Academy'' ( ar, كلية الملك خالد العسكرية) is a military university in Saudi Arabia owned by the Government of Saudi Arabia. It is located at Riyadh.
Khalid Military College was founded in 1965 based on ...
.[
]
Career
Prince Mutaib served as head of the commission responsible for reviewing the curricula of military college built in 1982.[ One year later, in 1983, ]King Fahd
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فهد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Fahd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', ; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was a Saudi Arabian politician who was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia fro ...
promoted Mutaib bin Abdullah to the rank of Colonel,[ and he was also appointed commander of the ]King Khalid Military City
King Khalid Military City (KKMC) ( ar, مدينة الملك خالد العسكرية; transliterated: ''Medinat Al-Malek Khaled Al-Askariyah'') is a special city in northeastern Saudi Arabia and about 60 km south of Hafar al-Batin city, d ...
.[
In 1990, Prince Mutaib began to serve as deputy head of the military under the chairmanship of the National Guard in addition to his post as the commander of the King Khalid military college and the National Guard military college. In 1995, he was promoted to the rank of the team captain.][ On 21 December 2000, Mutaib bin Abdullah was made deputy assistant chief of National Guard responsible for military affairs][ and was also promoted to the rank of general. In June 2009, King Abdullah appointed him as deputy commander of SANG responsible for executive affairs at the rank of minister.][
On 17 November 2010, Mutaib bin Abdullah became the commander of SANG, replacing King Abdullah.] He conducted a major $3 billion reorganization of SANG to develop its firepower and artillery. ''Okaz
''Okaz'' ( ar, عكاظ) is an Arabic Saudi Arabian daily newspaper located in Jeddah. The paper was launched in 1960 and its sister publication is ''Saudi Gazette''. The paper is simultaneously printed in both Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الر ...
'' reported in May 2012 that Prince Mutaib had some future plans to establish a body in SANG having female soldiers.
His appointment was commonly considered to reflect King Abdullah's emphasis that it was time to start giving the power to the next generation in a way that would reduce the risk of a power struggle within the Saudi royal family. His appointment was also regarded as a move to prepare him for assuming higher-level responsibility in the future. On 27 May 2013, Prince Mutaib was appointed minister of national guard, a post newly created.
Arrest
On 4 November 2017 Prince Mutaib was arrested and removed from his position as minister of the National Guard and replaced by Khalid bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammed bin Ayyaf Al Muqrin in the post.[ He was in Riyadh on that day and asked to meet with Crown Prince ]Mohammad bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
.
Prince Mutaib was accused of embezzlement, hiring ghost employees and awarding contracts to his own companies including a $10 billion deal for walkie talkies and bulletproof military gear worth billions of Saudi riyals. Prince Mutaib was released on 28 November 2017 after agreeing to pay authorities a sum, reported to be over $1 billion, or 6 billion Riyals, about 1,6 billion USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
. According to one source from inside the Saudi opposition, the price for Prince Mutaib's release was $10 billion.
Other positions
Prince Mutaib was appointed as a cabinet member with the rank of minister of state in November 2010.[ He was a member of the Military Service Council. He was vice president of the Supreme Committee of the National Festival for Heritage and Culture and the head of the technical committee of the Equestrian Club as well as a member of the board of directors of King Abdulaziz Public Library.][
]
Business activities
At the beginning of the 2000s, Prince Mutaib was the local representative for the Ford Motor Corporation in Saudi Arabia.[ In 2010 he bought Hotel de Crillon in ]Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
for $354 million.
Influence
In 1997, Paul Michael Wihbey correctly predicted that Crown Prince Abdullah would make his son, Prince Mutaib, the commander of SANG and that Mutaib would modernize SANG's capabilities in regard to counter-insurgency, information collection and tactical field operations. He also regarded Mutaib as a knowledgeable and highly competent commanding officer with strong professional ties to the U.S. military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
.[ It was also emphasized that Prince Mutaib developed close relations with powerful regional political and military leaders, including ]King Hussein
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...
and Turkish Prime Minister
The prime minister of the Republic of Turkey ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanı'') was the head of government of the Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Turkish Parliament and presided over the cab ...
Turgut Ozal Turgut is a Turkish given name. Turgut may also refer to:
Given name
* Turgut Alp, Ottoman military commander
** Turgut Alp (fictional character), a character based on Turgut Alp in ''Diriliş: Ertuğrul''
* Ankaralı Turgut (born 1963), Turkish ...
.
Prince Mutaib's influence seems to begin when he was a military officer in the SANG as a result of being the main advisor to his father, Abdullah, commander of the SANG.[ During his post in the SANG under King Abdullah's command, Prince Mutaib was reported to answer only to him.] He is considered to be a competent member of House of Saud and enjoy a wide following in the large tribes of central Arabia.
Mutaib bin Abdullah is reported to have some characteristics that make him one of the leading second generation princes: his low-profile political status; conservative personal approach and commitment to his father’s doctrine in addition to his strong tribal bonds.[ However, he is also characterized as both an ambitious and a respectable person.][ After the death of Crown Prince Nayef on 16 June 2012, Prince Mutaib was regarded as one of the possible contenders for the crown.
]
Views
Saudi university students organized demonstrations at King Khalid University
King Khalid University is a public university in Abha, Saudi Arabia. In 1998, HRH Crown Prince ordered the merger of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University and King Saud University in the Southern Region into one entity under the new identit ...
in March 2012, complaining about negative conditions. Prince Mutaib considered these demonstrations as a threat against the security of the Kingdom.[ He told that reducing problems and meeting the students' demands were not more urgent than security and stability of the country.][ He further argued that as a result of recent events in the Arab countries, they should be alert to maintain the stability and security of Saudi Arabia.]
In Spring 2013 Prince Mutaib stated "religion (should) not enter into politics" which led a serious concern among religious leaders. Just two days after this statement of Prince Mutaib the clergy met with King Abdullah to express their concern.[ In addition, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Tarifi responded Prince Mutaib's statement in a tweet: “whoever says there is no relationship between religion and politics worships two gods, one in the heavens and one on earth.”][
]
Personal life
Mutaib bin Abdullah is married to Jawahir bint Abdullah, who is a daughter of his father's uncle Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman. They have six children, three daughters and three sons: Seba, Nouf, Abdullah
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 ...
, Zeina, Saad and Khalid. He is also married to a daughter of Saleh Fustuq whose sister was the former wife of King Abdullah.
His son Abdullah participated in various horse showjumping events. More significantly, Prince Abdullah bin Mutaib had two Olympic appearances, one in 2012 London Olympics. One of Prince Mutaib's sons is married to Nouf bint Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud, a daughter of his aunt, Seeta bint Abdulaziz
Seeta bint Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, صيتة بنت عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Ṣeeyta bint 'Abd al 'Azīz Āl Sa'ūd''; 1930 – 13 April 2011) was a daughter of King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and the younger full-sister of King Abdul ...
. The daughter of Prince Mutaib, Nouf, is married to Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saud, Mutaib Abdullah
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1952 births
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Living people
Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
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Saudi Arabian Sunni Muslims
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