Mutaib bin Abdullah

Mutaib II bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: متعب الثاني بن عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎, Mutʿib aṯ-ṯānī bin ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ʾĀl Suʿūd, alternative spelling Miteb) (born 26 March 1952) is a member of House of Saud who served as Saudi Arabia's Minister of the National Guard from 27 May 2013 to 4 November 2017. Previously he was commander of the National Guard from 2010 to 2013. He was arrested on 4 November 2017 along with 10 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).[1]

Mutaib bin Abdullah
Minister of National Guard
In office27 May 2013 – 4 November 2017
PredecessorOffice established
SuccessorKhalid bin Abdulaziz
MonarchAbdullah
Salman
Chief of the National Guard
In office17 November 2010 – 27 May 2013
PredecessorAbdullah
SuccessorOffice abolished
MonarchAbdullah
Born (1952-03-26) 26 March 1952
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
SpouseJawahir bint Abdallah bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud
IssueSeba
Nouf
Abdullah
Zeina
Saad
Khalid
Full name
Mutaib II bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud
HouseHouse of Saud
FatherKing Abdullah bin Abdulaziz
MotherMunira bint Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Otaishan
Styles of
Mutaib II bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud
Reference styleHis Royal Highness
Spoken styleYour Royal Highness

Early life and education

Prince Mutaib was born in Riyadh on 26 March 1952.[2][3] However, there is another report, giving his birth year as 1953.[4] He is one of 34 children and the third son of King Abdullah.[5][6] His mother is Munira Al Otaishan.

Mutaib bin Abdullah and his older brother Khalid attended the Taif-Barmana School in Lebanon and secondary school in Jeddah.[7] Later, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as a lieutenant in 1974.[6][8][9] He received a master's degree at King Khalid Military College.[6]

Career

Prince Mutaib served as head of the commission responsible for reviewing the curricula of military college built in 1982.[9] One year later, in 1983, King Fahd promoted Captain Mutaib bin Abdullah to the rank of Colonel, and he was also appointed commander of the King Khalid Military City.[9]

In 1990, he began to serve as deputy head of the military under the chairmanship of the National Guard[10] in addition to his post as the commander of the King Khalid military college and the National Guard military college.[11] In 1995, he was promoted to the rank of the team captain.[9] On 21 December 2000, Mutaib bin Abdullah was made deputy assistant chief of National Guard responsible for military affairs[9] and was also promoted to the rank of general.[12] In June 2009, King Abdullah appointed him as deputy commander of SANG responsible for executive affairs at the rank of minister.[9][13]

On 17 November 2010, Mutaib bin Abdullah became the commander of SANG, replacing King Abdullah.[14][15] He conducted a major $3 billion reorganization of SANG to develop its firepower and artillery.[16] Okaz reported in May 2012 that Prince Mutaib had some future plans to establish a body in SANG having female soldiers.[17]

His appointment was commonly considered to reflect the 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 family.[18] His appointment was also regarded as a move to prepare him for assuming higher-level responsibility in the future.[19] On 27 May 2013, Prince Mutaib was appointed minister of national guard, a post newly created.[20][21]

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 Eyaf Almuqrin.[22] He was in Riyadh on that day and asked to meet with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.[23] Prince Mutaib is 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.[24][25][26] Prince Mutaib was released on 28 November 2017 after agreeing to pay authorities a sum, reported to be over $1 billion,[27] or 6 billion Riyals, about 1,6 billion USD. According to one source from inside the Saudi opposition, the price for Prince Mutaib's release was $10 billion.[28]

Other positions

Prince Mutaib was also appointed as a cabinet member with the rank of minister of state in November 2010.[14][29] Prince Mutaib was a member of the Military Service Council.[30] 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.[9]

Business activities

At the beginning of the 2000s, Prince Mutaib was local representative for the Ford Motor Corporation in Saudi Arabia.[7] In 2010 he bought Hotel de Crillon in Paris for $354 million.[31]

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.[32] It was also emphasized that Prince Mutaib developed close relations with powerful regional political and military leaders, including King Hussein and Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozal.[32]

Prince Mutaib's influence seems to begin when he was a military officer in the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) as a result of being the main advisor to his father, Abdullah, commander of the SANG.[33] During his post in the SANG under King Abdullah's command, Prince Mutaib was reported to answer only to him.[33] He is considered to be a competent member of House of Saud and enjoy a wide following in the large tribes of central Arabia.[34]

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.[32] However, he is also characterized as both an ambitious and a respectable person.[33] After the death of Crown Prince Nayef on 16 June 2012, Prince Mutaib was regarded as one of the possible contenders for the crown.[35][36]

Views

Saudi university students organized demonstrations at King Khalid University in March 2012, complaining about negative conditions. Prince Mutaib considered these demonstrations as a threat against the security of the Kingdom.[37] He told that reducing problems and meeting the students' demands were not more urgent than security and stability of the country.[37] 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.[37]

Personal life

Mutaib bin Abdullah is married to Jawahir bint Abdallah bin Abdul Rahman. They have six children, three daughters and three sons:[38] Seba, Nouf, Abdullah (born 13 October 1984), Zeina, Saad and Khalid.[39] His another wife is a daughter of Saleh Fustock whose sister was former wife of late King Abdullah.[31]

His son Abdullah participated in various horse showjumping events.[40] More significantly, Prince Abdullah bin Mutaib had two Olympic appearances, one in 2012 London Olympics.[41]

gollark: Unfortunately, the ones satisfying this basically always tend to just be the ones with the lowest start population.
gollark: End population > start population.
gollark: *But*, generating an interesting one takes many, many runs, and *checking for* an interesting one takes one run.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: You would seed it with initial data determinstically.

References
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  2. "Council of Ministers: Membership". Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington DC. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. Sharif, Sabri (2001). The House of Saud in Commerce: A Study of Royal Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. New Delhi: I. S. Publication. ISBN 81-901254-0-0.
  4. Steinberg, Guido (April 2011). "Return of the king" (PDF). Jane's Intelligence Review. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  5. Stig Stenslie (21 August 2012). Regime Stability in Saudi Arabia: The Challenge of Succession. Routledge. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-136-51157-8. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  6. "Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud". MEED. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  7. Kechichian, Joseph A. (2001). Succession in Saudi Arabia. Palgrave. ISBN 9780312238803.
  8. Kumaraswamy, P R (11 August 2005). "Saudis search for stability". Asia Times Online. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  9. "Biography of Prince Mitab Bin Abdullah". Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah Chair for Biomarkers Research on Osteoporosis. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  10. "10 Saudi Royals Who Could Become the Next Crown Prince". Riyadh Bureau. 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  11. "History of the Saudi National Guard". Asharq Alawsat. 11 September 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  12. "Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud". APS Review Oil Market Trends. 24 October 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  13. Henderson, Simon (26 October 2011). "The Next Generation of Saudi Princes: Who are They?". The Cutting Edge. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  14. "Prince Badr steps down, Prince Mit'eb appointed new commander of the National Guard". Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Tokyo. 17 November 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  15. Murphy, Caryle (19 November 2010). "King Abdullah puts son in charge of national guard". The National. Riyadh. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  16. "For Saudis, U.S. arms deal is a challenge". UPI. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  17. "Burqas into battle as women set to join the Saudi National Guard". Albawaba. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  18. Dorsey, James M. "Saudi Arabia Prepares to Hand Power to a Younger Generation". Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
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  24. "Future Saudi king tightens grip on power with arrests including..." Reuters. 6 November 2017.
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  27. "Saudi anti-corruption drive: Prince Miteb freed 'after $1bn deal'". BBC News. 29 November 2017.
  28. "Saudi prince Mutaib 'paid $10 billion' to be released from Ritz-Carlton 'prison'". Al Araby.
  29. "Prince Mit'ab bin Abdallah opens patients safety conference". Saudi Press Agency. 22 April 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  30. "Saudi- Authority to monitor audiovisual media". MEFAFN. Arab News. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  31. Katie Paul (5 November 2017). "Saudi prince, relieved from National Guard, once seen as throne contender". Reuters. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  32. Wihbey, Paul Michael (July 1997). "Succession in Saudi Arabia: The not so silent struggle". IASPS Research Papers in Strategy (4). Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  33. "The role of Saudi princes in uniform". Wikileaks. 27 May 1985. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  34. Kechichian, Joseph A. (February 2000). "Saudi Arabia's will to power" (PDF). Middle East Policy. VII (2): 47–60. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  35. Abdullah Al Shihri; Brian Murphy (17 June 2012). "Death of Saudi prince moves younger generation toward crown". Times Colonist. AP. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  36. Lippman, Thomas W. (16 June 2012). "Saudi Arabia Moves Closer to A New Generation of Leaders". Al Monitor. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  37. Admon, Y. (4 April 2012). "First Signs of Protest by Sunnis in Saudi Arabia" (Inquiry and Analysis Series Report No.819). MEMRI. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  38. "Biography of Prince Mitab Bin Abdullah". King Saud University. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  39. "Family tree of Mutaib bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz". Datarabia. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  40. Talal Kapoor (25 April 2010). "From Horsemen To Rappers: Changing Faces of The Younger Royals". Datarabia. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  41. Edmonds, Sarah (5 August 2012). "Equestrian: Saudis lead into team jump final last round". Chicago Tribune. Reuters. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
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