Omar al-Saqqaf

Omar Al Saqqaf (, ; 1923 – 14 November 1974) was a Saudi diplomat and politician who served as Saudi Arabia's first minister of state for foreign affairs from 1968 until his death. He was among the leading officials of Saudi Arabia in foreign relations and one of the trusted envoys of King Faisal.

Biography Early life and education Al Saqqaf was born in Medina in 1923. He received a degree in political science from the American University of Beirut.

Al Saqqaf was named as the state minister for foreign affairs in April 1968. In this capacity he led a group of Saudi officials before the Arab League summit in 1969, and they met with the officials from the Arab countries involved in the Six-Day War in 1967 to inform them that Saudi Arabia would not provide them more financial aid.

Following the Black September events which led to the departure of the Palestinians from Jordan, he headed the Saudi Arabian mission to settle the disputes between Jordan and the Palestinian groups. However, the two sides could not settle; as a result, Al Saqqaf claimed that if Jordanians would remain uncooperative, Saudi Arabia would close its borders with Jordan and suspend its annual financial support. He also added that if the Palestinian groups would not attempt to solve the problems with Jordan, Saudi Arabia would terminate its financial support to them.

Al Saqqaf was one of the active Saudi Arabian officials during the establishment of the Gulf states as independent countries in 1971. Throughout his career, he was among the close advisors to King Faisal. During the oil crisis in 1973 both Prince Fahd, later King Fahd, and Prince Sultan, minister of defense, claimed that Al Saqqaf and oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani took an anti-American stance, and were the major reasons for King Faisal's hostile approach towards the USA.

Al Saqqaf's term ended in November 1974 when he died, and he was succeeded by Prince Saud bin Faisal Al Saud in the post in March 1975. In the period between November 1974 and March 1975 the ministry was headed by the acting minister Mohammed Ibrahim Massoud.

Orders and awards