Saud al Faisal dies at 75; Saudi prince was a force in Mideast diplomacy - latimes

Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al Faisal, who was the world's longest-serving foreign minister with 40 years in the post, died Thursday, the ministry spokesman said. He was 75.  His death was announced by the government-owned media. 

Saud was born in Taif, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 2, 1940. He was the second son of the prince who became Saudi Arabia's third king, Faisal, who ruled from 1964 until he was assassinated in 1975.

After earning a bachelor's degree in economics from Princeton University in 1964, Saud began his government career in the Ministry of Petroleum. He was deputy petroleum minister before being named foreign minister, a post his father also had held, in 1975.

He played a key role in patching ties with the United States after 9/11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. He insisted in public speeches that Islam and Muslims are not the enemy, saying in a 2004 address at the European Policy Center in Brussels: "You just cannot dismiss a 1,400-year-old culture and civilization by stigmatizing it as merely a hatchery for terrorism."

His survivors include three sons and three daughters. - Read More at latimes

Saud al Faisal dies at 75; Saudi prince was a force in Mideast diplomacy