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Omar Al Saqqaf (Arabic: عمر السقاف; 1923–1974) was a Saudi Arabian diplomat and politician who served as the minister of state for foreign affairs being the first Saudi to hold the post. He was among the leading officials of Saudi Arabia in foreign relations and one of the trusted envoys of King Faisal. He died in New York City while serving as the minister of state.

Early life and education

Al Saqqaf was born in Medina in 1923. His grandfather, Sayyid Omar Al Saqqaf, was a merchant in Jeddah dealing with the pilgrim trade. He received a degree in political science from the American University of Beirut.

Career and activities

Following his graduation Al Saqqaf started his career at the Foreign Office of Saudi Arabia as the third secretary in 1948. From 1951 he assumed the post of acting charge d'affairs with the rank of counselor in different cities, including Karachi, Rome, Jakarta and London. He became chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1956 and then, was named as the acting assistant undersecretary at the ministry. Next year, he was named as the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Ethiopia, and after serving in the post for one year, he was appointed deputy minister of foreign affairs. Then he served as the undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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, both sides were not cooperative, and as a result, Al Saqqaf claimed that if Jordanians would continue to be 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. Al Saqqaf was among the close advisors of King Faisal throughout his career. 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.

During the oil crisis in 1973 both Prince Fahd, later King Fahd, and Prince Sultan, minister of defense, claimed that Al Saqqaf and Ahmed Zaki Yamani, oil minister, had an anti-American stance and also, were the major reasons for King Faisal's hostile approach towards the USA.

Personal life and death

Al Saqqaf was married and had three children. He had a good command of the English and French languages.

Al Saqqaf was attending the United Nations General Assembly on the Palestine issue in New York City when he died of a cerebral thrombosis at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on 14 November 1974 at age 51. His body was brought back to Jeddah for burial.

Awards

The Spanish President Francisco Franco awarded Al Saqqaf the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit on 15 February 1974. Al Saqqaf was also the recipient of the Nile Sash of Egypt which was awarded to him on 30 July 1974.

References

1. Joseph Mann (2012). "King Faisal and the Challenge of Nasser's Revolutionary Ideology". Middle Eastern Studies. 48 (5): 750. doi:10.1080/00263206.2012.706220. S2CID 144629072.
2. ^ "Omar Saqqaf Dies; Saudi Diplomat, 51". The New York Times. 16 November 1974. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
3. Janet Ewald; William G. Clarence-Smith (1997). "The Economic Role of the Hadhrami Diaspora in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, 1820s to 1930s". In Ulrike Freitag; William G. Clarence-Smith (eds.). Hadhrami Traders, Scholars and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s-1960s. Vol. 57. Leiden; New York; Köln: Brill. p. 288. doi:10.1163/9789004491946_022. ISBN 9789004491946. S2CID 241079377.
4. "Chronology June 16, 1964-August 31, 1964". The Middle East Journal. 18 (4): 474. Autumn 1964. JSTOR 4323777.
5. "New Appointments". Arabian Gulf Digital Archive. 4 April 1968. p. 18. Retrieved 6 February 2023. British intelligence document. FCO 8/753
6. Joseph Mann (2014). "Saudi-Palestinian Relations During the Run-Up to and the Aftermath of Black September". Terrorism and Political Violence. 26 (4): 714. doi:10.1080/09546553.2013.773899. S2CID 145710333.
7. ^ Fuad Jabber (1973). "The Arab Regimes and the Palestinian Revolution, 1967-71". Journal of Palestine Studies. 2 (2): 100. doi:10.2307/2535482. JSTOR 2535482.
8. Brandon Friedman (2020). The End of Pax Britannica in the Persian Gulf, 1968-1971. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 98. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-56182-6. ISBN 978-3-030-56182-6. S2CID 229220016.
9. Joseph Mann (2006). "The Syrian Neo-Ba'th regime and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1966–70". Middle Eastern Studies. 42 (5): 764. doi:10.1080/00263200600828014. S2CID 144587765.
10. Gary Samuel Samore (1984). Royal Family Politics in Saudi Arabia (1953-1982) (PhD thesis). Harvard University. pp. 265–266. ProQuest 303295482.
11. ^ Samuel E. Willner (2023). Preserving the Saudi Monarchy. Political Pragmatism in Saudi Arabia, c.1973-1979. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 40, 58. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-30006-6. ISBN 978-3-031-30006-6. S2CID 259196372.
12. ^ "New Saudi Arabia King Picks Deputy Premiers". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. United Press International. 30 March 1975. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
13. "Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores. Decreto 528" (PDF). boe.es (in Spanish). 27 February 1974. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
14. "Omar Al Saqqaf". Egyptian Presidency. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2022.

• 20th-century Saudi Arabian diplomats
• 20th-century Saudi Arabian politicians
• 1923 births
• 1974 deaths
• State ministers of Saudi Arabia
• People from Medina
• Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia
• Deaths from cerebral thrombosis
• American University of Beirut alumni
• Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit