page_title: Turki bin Faisal Al Saud
section_title: Ambassador to the United States
hierarchical_section_title: Turki bin Faisal Al Saud / Ambassador to the United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Prince Turki Al Faisal entering to speak at USF Marshall Student Center.
context_page_description: Turki bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, known also as Turki al-Faisal, is a Saudi politician and diplomat. A member of the House of Saud, he currently serves as the chairman of King Faisal Foundation's Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
  From 1979 to 2001, Prince Turki was the director general of Al Mukhabarat Al 'Ammah, Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency, resigning the position on 1 September 2001, some ten days before the September 11 attacks in which 14 Saudi nationals hijacked commercial American airliners. Prince Turki subsequently served as ambassador to the Court of St. James's and the United States.
context_section_description: In July 2005, it was announced that Prince Turki would succeed Bandar bin Sultan as Saudi ambassador to the United States. He served as ambassador to the United States from July 2005 until 11 December 2006. Adel al-Jubeir succeeded him as ambassador to the United States.
  Prince Turki spent much of his time as ambassador to the United States traveling around the country, visiting 37 states. Turki advocated that the United States engage in direct talks with Iran but other high-ranking Saudi officials, including Turki's predecessor as ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, supported military action to halt Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.
  He argued that the Palestinian-Israeli issue, not Iran, was more important for the United States and called on the Bush Administration to revive the peace process. He also argued that diplomacy with Iran was the best way to prevent problems. The Administration disliked his stance and made it difficult for him to arrange visits to the White House. The White House preferred Bandar's more aggressive approach and welcomed Bandar instead.
caption: Prince Turki as Ambassador to the United States
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