RIYADH // Saudi Arabia’s former foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal died on Thursday at the age of 75, according to state-owned media and government officials.
Prince Saud’s death was announced on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television and confirmed by Osama Nugali, a spokesman at the foreign ministry.
Prince Saud, who was appointed in 1975, was the world’s longest serving foreign minister when he stepped down on April 29 this year.
He was replaced by Adel Al Jubeir, the then ambassador to Washington, after having served the kingdom for 40 years.
“May God accept him in paradise,” tweeted the prince’s nephew Saud Mohammed Al Abdullah Al Faisal.
Al Arabiya said he died in Los Angeles, where he was receiving medical treatment.
Prince Saud, a son of King Faisal, played an important role in shaping the country’s response to the crises affecting the Middle East.
In 1989, he helped Saudi Arabia negotiate the agreement that ended Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.
His tenure also included Israeli invasions of Lebanon in 1978, 1982 and 2006, the Palestinian intifadas in 1987 and 2000, Iraq invading Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990, and a US-led coalition’s occupation of Iraq in 2003.
* Agencies
