Manama: Turki Bin Abdullah Al Dakheel has been appointed Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UAE.
Al Dakheel was one of the 13 ambassadors who on Sunday took the oath before King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz at the Al Yamama Palace in Riyadh.
Al Dakheel is one of the best-known media figures in the Arab world, steadily rising in prominence thanks to his political talk shows and other appearances followed by millions of viewers who saw in him an outstandingly bold and direct interviewer.
In 2011, he was ranked as the 36th most powerful Arab figure by Arabian Business.
Al Dakheel was born in Riyadh in 1973 and studied at the Imam Mohammad Bin Saud Islamic University in the capital.
Fascinated by the media, he started writing for several newspapers and the list included Al Riyadh, Al Sharq Al Awsat, Al Majala magazine, Al Hayat and Al Watan.
He was always outspoken in his views and daring in the topics he selected. He retained the same style when he interviewed people on Al Arabiya Television, successfully blending simplicity, delicateness and boldness and building a remarkable reputation.
In an Op/Ed he published today in UAE newspaper Al Ittihad, Al Dakheel said it was a great honour for him to be appointed Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UAE, the country “in which I have lived for the past two decades for professional reasons”. It is an honour for me because I love ... the UAE, its people, and its rulers. For 20 years, my family and I never felt, for the slightest moment, that we were living in a country other than our own or mingling with people who are not ours,” he wrote.
“Today, what can an ambassador offer to relations between two countries that can be considered as the strongest allies, not only in the region, but also perhaps in the world? An ambassador can offer a lot, but with a lot of efforts.”
Al Dakheel said he was confident that “the great people of the UAE will ... thanks to their impressive origins, great ethics and love for their leaders, be able to do more in order to strengthen the strong relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia”.
