Mishaal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud

Mishaal bin Abdul-Aziz (born 1926) is a senior member of the Saudi royal family. He served as Minister of Defense from 1951 to 1956. He was Special Adviser to King Saud from 1957 to 1960. He served as Governor of Makkah Province from 1963 to 1971. In December 2007, he became the first Chairman of the Allegiance Council. He is a full brother of Prince Mutaib.

Political career

Minister of Defense

He replaced his full brother Mansur as Minister of Defense after he died.^[1] As Minister of Defense, he became one of the most affluent princes in the Al Saud. He bought state land for very cheap prices and yielded extraordinary profits. His manner was reported as serious, quiet, and dignified. But because of his lack of education and experience, Mishaal left the Ministry remain completely unorganized. He leaned heavily on advice and recommendation from foreign counsel.^[1] He wielded significant influence in King Abdul-Aziz's government.^[1] Because of Mishaal's considerable power, King Abdul-Aziz countered his influence by appointing Abdullah bin Faisal as Minister of Health and Interior.^[1]

At the same time, King Abdul-Aziz established the Ministry of Air Force under Mishaal to prevent flight-related matters from going under Prince Talal, the Minister of Communication.^[1] Because of Mishaal and Talal could not agree, Saudi Arabia was to have two airline fleets.^[1] But in April 1955, Talal resigned and the Ministry of Communication was merged with Ministry of Finance.^[1]

In May 1955, King Saud created a renewed modern National Guard. This was led by Saud's son Khalid who replaced a commoner.^[1] This move weakened Mishaal because he had often used the old National Guard's resources.^[1]

Present influence

He is considered among the most powerful princes in the Al Saud. He is a close ally of King Abdullah, Mishaal is younger than the King, Prince Bandar bin Abdul Aziz, and Prince Musa'id but was older than the late Crown Prince Sultan. Prince Mutaib, former Minister for Rural & Municipal Affairs, is his only living full brother.

Wealth

Mishaal is a leading businessman, with substantial investments in real estate, insurance, electrical utilities, oil trading, cement manufacture, etc.

He is founder and owner of the multi-billion dollar Al Shoula Group, 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 & gas production, oilfield services and international product trading.

Personal life

He is the father of Saud, Muhammad, Bandar, Mansour, Abdul-Aziz, Lulu, Sara, Maha, and Nouf.

Saud is the father of Noura. Muhammad has 9 children (6 sons, 3 daughters). They are Mishael, Noura, and Anoud. The boys are Mishaal, Saud, Manour, Majed, Sultan, and Faisal. Prince Mohammad also has 2 grandchildren- Nouf and Sultana. Bandar has 4 children- Sara, Anoud, Nouf, and Faisal. Mansour has 4 daughters- Bsmah, Wssmah, Ream and Sarah. Abdul-Aziz has 4 children -Mohammad, Nouf, Adwa, Fahad. He also has 2 grandchildren- Mishaal and Muhammad.

He returned to Saudi Arabia from unspecified medical treatment in Beirut in December 2009.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Hertog, Steffen. Princes, Brokers, and Bureaucrats: Oil and the State in Saudi Arabia. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2010. Print. [1]
2. ^ http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3153

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Name	Mishaal Bin Abdul Aziz
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Date of birth	1926
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