Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 5 September 1926 – 3 May 2017) was a Saudi Arabian politician and businessman. A member of the House of Saud, he held different cabinet posts in the 1950s and was the chairman of the Allegiance Council from 2007 to 2017.

Early life Prince Mishaal was born on 5 September 1926. He was the fifteenth son of King Abdulaziz.

He was the full brother of Prince Mansour, Prince Mutaib and Princess Qumash who died on 26 September 2011. Their mother was an Armenian woman from Lebanon, Shahida, (died 1938), who reportedly was the favorite wife of King Abdulaziz. She was of Christian origin.

Career

Prince Mishaal served as the minister of defense from 12 May 1951 to 1953. He replaced his full brother Prince Mansour as minister of defense when he died in 1951. Until that date, Prince Mishaal served as deputy minister of defense. When Prince Mishaal became minister, his younger full brother Prince Mutaib was appointed his deputy. In May 1955, King Saud created a renewed modern National Guard which was led by Saud's son Prince Khalid who replaced a commoner. Prince Fahd bin Saud, a son of King Saud, replaced him in the post.

Mishaal and his full-brother Mutaib returned to favour in 1963 under regent and later King Faisal who entrusted them a key governorship and deputy governorship, respectively. Specifically, Mishaal served as governor of Makkah Province from 1963 to 1971. In 1969 Prince Mishaal was also made the head of the Saudi Tourism Authority. Both Mishaal and Mutaib resigned from their posts in 1971 for reasons that are not entirely clear.

Succession to the throne Mishaal bin Abdulaziz protested more than once that he should have been crown prince since he served as both a governor and a minister and was older than some of his brothers. It is argued that he was immediately excluded from the competition for the title of crown prince by the Sudairi brothers.

Influence Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was impartial in family politics, although he was known to incline towards King Abdallah or be one of King Abdullah's close allies.

Business activities Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was a leading businessman, with substantial investments in real estate, insurance, electrical utilities, oil trading and cement manufacture.

He founded Al Shoula Group in 1970, which is a major investor in real estate developments throughout the Middle East partnering with such investors as Dubai's Emaar Group, Kuwait's Bayt Al Mal Investment Company, and the Al Rajhi family's Tameer Group. Al Shoula's wholly owned subsidiary, Dhahran Global, is active in broad areas of the petroleum and petrochemical industry including pipeline development, oil and gas production, oilfield services and international product trading. The CEO of Al Shoula Group was his son Prince Abdulaziz He was also the owner of Shola Shopping Center in Riyadh and the Mishaal International company.

Charity In the early 1970s Prince Mishaal allocated land in Mecca for the foundation of charities which would assist Palestinian families whose children had been killed during the operations against Israel.

Controversy In 2013 Faisal Almhairat, a Jordanian businessman and Prince Mishaal's former business partner, alleged that Prince Mishaal and his son, Prince Abdulaziz, involved in money laundering activity for various rich individuals and groups, including Hizbollah, and opened a case in London.

Personal life Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was a supporter of the traditional camel racing and horse racing, and had valuable racing camels and horses. Each year, he patronized camel races in the kingdom. He also dealt with traditional falconry.

One of his wives was Noura bint Fawwaz, a granddaughter of Nuri Al Shalaan, and they divorced. Prince Mishaal's son, Mohammed bin Mishaal, died at age 58 in February 2005. His other sons include Prince Faisal, Prince Mansour and Prince Bandar. Prince Faisal is the son-in-law of former Crown Prince Sultan, and his spouse is Princess Latifa. Abdulaziz bin Fahd married Al Anoud bint Faisal in December 2010.

In October 2009 Mishaal bin Abdulaziz was rushed to hospital in Geneva, apparently having suffered a stroke.

Ancestry