Sudden exit baffles diplomats

Washington: Prince Turki Al Faisal, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, flew out of Washington on Monday 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 US 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 kingdom.

Turki, a long-serving former intelligence chief, told his staff on Monday afternoon that he wanted to spend more time with his family, according to Arab diplomats. Colleagues said they were shocked at the decision.

Saud ill

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.

Saud, who was appointed in 1975, has held the position of foreign minister longer than any of his counterparts anywhere in the world dating back to the era of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Saudi officials have not commented on Saud's condition, but he has suffered from tremors for years. Last year, he slipped in the shower and fractured a shoulder. After attending the opening of the UN General Assembly in September, he flew to Los Angeles for surgery and quietly remained in the United States until shortly before Thanksgiving, according to an Arab official.

As Saud's health has declined, Turki has increasingly been rumoured as a possible replacement for his older brother. He would symbolise continuity in Saudi foreign policy at a moment of tension over Iraq between Riyadh and Washington, two long-standing allies in forging common political and economic policy in the Middle East.

King Abdullah summoned Vice-President Dick Cheney after Thanksgiving for talks on Iraq and other Middle East flashpoints.

Turki has been the subject of both high praise and controversy. In the 1980s, while he was intelligence chief, he reportedly met Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden several times during the US- and Saudi-backed support for mujahideen fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He subsequently denounced Bin Laden.

High regard

Turki later served as Saudi ambassador to Britain. "He was regarded as being one of the most effective ambassadors from any country and was held in very high regard,'' a British diplomat said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia has been deeply concerned about the change in the balance of power in Iraq, with which it shares a 500-mile border. Riyadh has been alarmed by the rise of the Shiite majority in Iraq and the marginalisation of the traditional Sunni elite.

Young Saudi men have joined the Sunni insurgency as foreign fighters, while there have been persistent reports that some citizens have provided financial aid to the Sunni insurgency.

The kingdom announced earlier this year that it will build an elaborate barrier along the remote desert frontier, with ultraviolet night-vision cameras, underground sensor cables and command posts.

Turki, a 1968 graduate of Georgetown University, will return briefly in January after the Haj to say formal goodbyes, according to an Arab official.