Saudis plan to name Al-Jubeir to be new envoy to US
21 Dec 2006 23:25:00 GMT Source: Reuters
(Updates with confirmation from U.S. official, paragraphs 1-3) WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has put forward the name of Adel al-Jubeir, a foreign policy adviser to Saudi King Abdullah, to be Riyadh's next ambassador to the United States, a U.S. official said on Thursday. The official, who asked not to be identified, said Saudi Arabia had asked U.S. consent to its choice of Jubeir to represent the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter, in Washington. Governments must request and obtain such consent through a process known by the diplomatic term "agrement" before naming someone to serve as their ambassador in another country. Jubeir, who became the public face of his country in the U.S. media after the Sept. 11 attacks, will replace Prince Turki al-Faisal, who resigned as the Saudi ambassador in Washington after 15 months in the post, according to reports in the Washington Post and an Internet blog published by analyst Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation think tank. Jubeir, 44, is a well-known figure in Washington government circles. Young, articulate and telegenic, he was designated by the kingdom to lead a public effort to disassociate the Saudi royal family from the Islamic extremism of al Qaeda after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Most of the hijackers who flew four planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field were Saudi born. Clemons reported that Jubeir "has risen to such levels of esteem in the estimation of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah that he has been appointed the next Saudi Ambassador to the United States." The Post quoted U.S. officials as saying Jubeir would be the envoy. The impending appointment represents a meteoric rise in Saudi diplomacy for a man who last served in Washington as special assistant to Prince Bandar bin Sultan, now the Saudi national security adviser, the Post said. Jubeir attended the University of North Texas and Georgetown University.
