Faisal bin Musaid Al Saud
Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the assassin, and nephew, of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
Born(1944-04-04)4 April 1944
Died18 June 1975(1975-06-18) (aged 31)
Deera Square, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Names
Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdulaziz
HouseAl Saud
FatherMusa'id bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
MotherWatfa bint Muhammad bin Talal Al Rashid
Cause of deathExecution by beheading
Known forAssassination of King Faisal
Conviction(s)Murder
Criminal penaltyExecution

Faisal bin Musaid Al Saud (Arabic: فيصل بن مساعد آل سعود, Fayṣal bin Musāʿid ʾĀl Suʿūd; 4 April 1944 – 18 June 1975) was the assassin and nephew of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.

Early life

Faisal bin Musa'id was born in 1944.[1] His father was Prince Musa'id bin Abdulaziz, son of the founder of Saudi Arabia and half-brother to all the six Saudi kings, including King Faisal, who have succeeded the founder. Faisal bin Musa'id's mother was Watfa, a daughter of Muhammad bin Talāl, the 12th and last Rashidi emir. Musa'id and Watfa were divorced when Faisal was still young. Therefore, he and his siblings were much closer to their maternal Rashidi relatives than to their paternal Al Saud relatives.[2]

In 1965, Faisal's older brother Khaled[3][4] was shot and killed by a Saudi police officer while he led an assault on a new television station in Riyadh that had been recently founded by King Faisal.[5] Some people opposed the establishment of a national television service, as they believed it is immoral to produce images of humans.[6] While that is the official version, the details of his death are disputed and some reports allege that he actually died resisting arrest outside his own home.[1] Regardless, no investigation over his death was ever initiated.[7] Faisal had two other full siblings, Prince Bandar and Princess Al Jawhara. Saudi businessman Abdul Rahman bin Musa'id Al Saud is his half-brother.

Education

Faisal arrived in the United States in 1966 and attended San Francisco State College for two semesters studying English. Allis Bens, director of the American Language Institute at San Francisco State, said, "He was friendly and polite and very well brought up, it seemed to me."[8] While Faisal was at San Francisco State, his brother Khaled was killed. After leaving San Francisco State College, Faisal went to the University of California, Berkeley and then to the University of Colorado Boulder. He was described by his peers as "[a] quiet, likable, notably unstudious young man".[9] University of Colorado Professor Edward Rozek, who had taught him in three comparative government courses, described him as "academically a D and a C student".[5]

In 1969, while in Boulder, he was arrested for conspiring to sell LSD. He pleaded guilty and was placed on probation for one year.[10] In May 1970, the district attorney dropped the charges.[9]

In 1971, he received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Colorado and then returned to the San Francisco Bay area. At the University of California, Berkeley, he enrolled in graduate courses in political science, but did not receive a master's degree.[10]

After the United States

After leaving the United States, he went to Beirut. For unknown reasons, he also went to East Germany. When he came back to Saudi Arabia, Saudi authorities seized his passport because of his troubles abroad. He began teaching at Riyadh University and kept in touch with his girlfriend, Christine Surma, who was 26 at the time of the assassination.[5] Surma viewed the Saudi interest "in achieving peace with Israel" as a positive outcome "not available with the previous ruler King Faisal".[11]

Assassination and trial

King Faisal bin Abdulaziz

Royal Palace shooting

On 25 March 1975, Prince Faisal went to the Royal Palace in Riyadh, where King Faisal was holding a meeting, known as a majlis. He joined a Kuwaiti delegation and lined up to meet the king. The king recognized his nephew and bent his head forward, so that the younger Faisal could kiss the king's head in a sign of respect. The prince took out a revolver from his robe and shot the King twice in the head. His third shot missed and he threw the gun away. King Faisal fell to the floor. Bodyguards with swords and submachine guns arrested the prince.[9] The king was quickly rushed to a hospital but doctors were unable to save him. Saudi television crews captured the entire assassination on camera.[7]

Imprisonment and execution

Initial reports described Faisal bin Musaid as "mentally deranged". He was moved to a Riyadh prison.[9] However, he was later deemed sane to be tried.[12]

A sharia court found Faisal guilty of the king's murder on 18 June, and his public execution occurred hours later.[2][13] Cars with loudspeakers drove around Riyadh publicly announcing the verdict and his imminent execution, and crowds gathered in the square.[13] Faisal was led by a soldier to the execution point and was reported to have walked unsteadily.[13] Wearing white robes and blindfolded, Faisal was beheaded with a single sweep of a gold-handled sword.[13]

Motives

Aside from the death of his brother, his other possible motivations remain unknown,[14] but other motives have been proposed. Saudi officials began to state that the prince's actions were deliberate and planned.[15] Rumours suggested that the prince had told his mother about his assassination plans, who in turn told King Faisal who responded that "if it is Allah's will, then it would happen".[16]

Arab media implied that the prince had been an agent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Israel's Mossad.[9] Following these types of claims, a theory started in Iranian media mentioned that he might have been manipulated by his Western girlfriend (Christine Surma) who, it was alleged, might have been Jewish and secretly an asset for the Israeli intelligence services. The rumor was briefly taken seriously by Saudi Arabian officials who informally contacted Surma to question her regarding the assassination at which point she revealed she was not Jewish and that she was as puzzled as everyone else regarding the actions of Faisal.[5][14]

Beirut newspapers offered three different explanations for the attack. An-Nahar reported that the attack may have been possible vengeance for the dethroning of King Saud, because Faisal was scheduled to marry Saud's daughter, Princess Sita, in the same week.[7] An-Nahar also reported that King Faisal had ignored his repeated complaints that his $3,500 monthly allowance ($16,700/month in 2020 dollars, $200,500/year) was insufficient and this may have prompted the assassination.[7] Al Bayrak reported that according to reliable Saudi sources, King Faisal prohibited him from leaving the country because of his excessive consumption of alcohol and other drugs and the attack may have been a retaliation against the ban.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Fetherling, George; Martin, Christopher (1 October 2001). "F (Faisal, Musad Abdel Aziza [1947-1975])". The Book of Assassins: A Biographical Dictionary from Ancient Times to the Present. New York City, New York, United States of America: Wiley. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-471-15891-2. OCLC 1131261519. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 Commins, David (2006) [2005]. "3. Wahhabism in a Modern State". The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia. Library of Modern Middle East Studies. Vol. L (2nd ed.). New York City, New York, United States of America: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84511-080-2 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Tariq Ali (1 October 2001). Steinfeld, Jemimah; Phillips, Trevor; Griffiths, Lyndsay (eds.). "Kingdom of corruption: Keeping an eye on the ball: The Saudi connection". Index on Censorship. London, United Kingdom of Great Britain: Writers and Scholars International Ltd./SAGE Journals. 30 (4): 14–18. doi:10.1080/03064220108536972. ISSN 0306-4220. OCLC 1201236477. S2CID 146353454.
  4. ↑ Biography of Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Historystack. Retrieved 25 June 2017
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Saudi Prince's Girlfriend Denies That She Is Jewish". The New York Times. Vol. CXXIV, no. 51. Reuters. 10 April 1975. p. A15. Archived from the original on 26 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  6. ↑ Boyd, Douglas A. (22 December 1970). Kittross, John M.; Sterling, Christopher H.; Jordan Jr., Mortimer H.; Berschler, Barbara Ileen (eds.). "Saudi Arabian television". Journal of Broadcasting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)/Temple University. 15 (1): 73–78. doi:10.1080/08838157009363626. ISSN 0883-8151. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Ludington, Nick (27 March 1975). Gaines, Scott B.; Gaines, Scott; Gaines, Pipes (eds.). "Motives for slaying offered". International news. The Daily News (Kentucky). Vol. 121, no. 74. Beirut, Lebanon: News Publishing Co. (Gaines family). Associated Press. p. 5. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021 – via Google Newspapers.
  8. ↑ Weybret, Fred; Zimmerman, Paul; Whitney, Frank K.; Fox, David J.; Block, Leland G., eds. (26 March 1975). "Saudi Arabia's King Faisal assassinated". Lodi News-Sentinel. Vol. 93, no. 11261. Lodi, California, United States of America: Central Valley News-Sentinel Inc. UPI. p. 1 – via Google Newspapers.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 John Elson; Marshall Loeb; Ronald Kriss (7 April 1975). ""Saudi Arabia: The death of a desert monarch"". Time. Vol. 105, no. 14. ISSN 0040-781X. OCLC 1311479. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009.
  10. 1 2 "Prince tied to drugs as student in U.S.". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. 27 March 1975. p. 5. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  11. ↑ Saudi Prince Beheaded. The News and The Courier, 19 June 1975.
  12. ↑ Faisal's Slayer Will Stand Trial Archived 20 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Milwaukee Sentinel, 31 March 1975, p.2. Retrieved 25 March 2015. – via news.google.com
  13. 1 2 3 4 Rees-Mogg, William, ed. (19 June 1975). "Prince beheaded in public for King Faisal's murder". The Times. London, United Kingdom of Great Britain: Times Newspapers: 1. ISSN 0140-0460. OCLC 605140119.
  14. 1 2 The Associated Press (30 March 1975). Marsh, Claudia Haines (ed.). "Completely baffled as to what possessed him". The Gadsden Times. Vol. 108, no. 277. Gadsden, Alabama, United States of America: Public Welfare Foundation. p. 15. Retrieved 2 August 2021 – via Google Newspapers.
  15. ↑ سيرة الملك فيصل بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود في برنامج الراحل مع محمد الخميسي (in Arabic), archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 17 June 2021
  16. ↑ King Faisal of Saudi Arabia - وثائقي عن الملك فيصل بن عبدالعزيز, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 17 June 2021

Further reading

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