Sultan bin Abdul Aziz
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His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al Saud (Arabic: صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير سلطان بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود) (born January 5, 1928 in Riyadh) is one of the most powerful princes in Saudi Arabia. He has been the Minister of Defense and Aviation since 1962, and in 1982 was named by his full brother King Fahd as Second Deputy Prime Minister, the position Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah each held immediately before becoming Crown Prince. Thus, though there is no formal line of succession in the Kingdom after the Crown Prince, he is generally considered likely to be the next Crown Prince, and thus second in line to be king.
He is also the inspector general for the kingdom, and is Chairman of the Board of Saudi Arabia's national airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines.
His son Prince Bandar bin Sultan is Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, and his son Prince Khalid bin Sultan was a key Saudi general in the 1991 Gulf War.
He is one of the Sudairi Seven, seven close-knit sons of King Abdul Aziz "ibn Saud" by Hassa bint Ahmad Sudairi, of whom King Fahd is the oldest. Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, and Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh, are among the others.
Prince Sultan denied the United States use of Saudi bases to stage military strikes on Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, stating that his government "will not accept in [Saudi Arabia] even a single soldier who will attack Muslims or Arabs."
On 15th August 2002, he was one of three Saudi princes sued for allegedly helping to finance the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001, the other two being Prince Turki bin Faisal and Prince Mohammed bin Faisal.
External links:
- Saudi Info website (http://www.saudinf.com/main/b472.htm)
- Hagiography from Saudi Arabian Airlines (http://www.saudiairlines.com/aboutus/dgmessage.jsp)