Faisal bin Musa'id

Faisal bin Musa'id bin Abdul Aziz (April 4, 1944, Riyadh - June 18 1975, Riyadh) ( _ar. فيصل بن مساعد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود) was the assassin and nephew of King Faisal. The younger Faisal's father was Prince Musa'id bin Abdul Aziz, a half-brother of King Faisal, and fifteenth son of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. His mother was Watfa, a daughter of Mohammad ibn Talal, the 12th (and last) Rashidi amir.

Born to Musa'id bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, who along with his wife was regarded as being eccentric among the Royal family, Faisal is known to have had a brother named Khaled who died after demonstrations against a television station in Riyadh, shot by Saudi defense forces in 1965. Khaled was regarded as a religious extremist, and his protest was due to his view of the depiction of images being against Islam. Faisal is also known to have had another brother, Prince Bandar, and a sister, Princess Al Jawhara.

Faisal is known to have studied in the United States, taking undergraduate course work at San Francisco State College and University of Colorado. Here he was arrested in 1970 for selling LSD, although the district attorney would drop the charges. Faisal would then take graduate courses in political science at Berkeley, although he did not finish his degree, and he would leave the United States after being acquitted of his drug dealing charges due in part to diplomatic immunity.

After leaving the United States, the Prince spent some time in Beirut, where he was known to be involved with drugs. It was also later learned that he visited East Germany, before returning to Saudi Arabia, although the reason behind this was never determined.

Upon returning to Saudi Arabia, his passport was seized, due to the trouble he had caused while abroad. He began teaching at Riyadh University; he also kept in touch with a girlfriend he had met in America. On March 25, 1975 he went to the Royal Palace in Riyadh, where King Faisal was holding a "majlis" or public meeting with prominent citizens. Joining a Kuwaiti delegation, he lined up to meet the king. The king recognized his nephew and bent his head forward, so that the younger Faisal could kiss the king's nose, in a sign of respect. Rather, Faisal bin Musa'id drew a pistol and shot his uncle in the face numerous times while claiming vengeance for his brother Khaled. He was immediately captured, while the king was rushed to a hospital only to later succumb to his wounds. Before dying, the king is reported to have asked that his assassin be spared execution. Saudi television crews captured the entire assassination on camera.

In the aftermath, Faisal bin Musa'id was publicly declared to have been insane. It was reported that he had undergone psychiatric treatment in Beirut, where he had blamed his uncle for the death of his brother. Faisal was also reputed to have been a drug user, his arrest for the sale of drugs in the United States corroborating this claim. Despite this early speculation, within days of the assassination, Saudi officials began postulating that the younger Faisal's actions were deliberate and planned. It was also rumored that Faisal bin Musa'id had told his mother about his plan to assassinate the king, and his mother told the king, but he responded that if it was Allah's will, then it would happen. It is a commonly-held, but so far unsubstantiated, popular belief in Saudi Arabia and the Arab World that Faisal bin Musa'id was a pawn in a Western conspiracy to assassinate King Faisal. [Fred Halliday, "Political killing in the cold war", Published by openDemocracy Ltd. [http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization/cold_war_2753.jsp] ]

He was tried and found guilty of regicide. Hours after the verdict, he was publicly beheaded in Riyadh.

References

* "Assassin's Fate and Motives Unknown." New York Times 27 Mar 1975 : 3.
* de Onis, Juan. "Motive Unknown." New York Times 26 Mar 1975 : 1 & 8.
* Pace, Eric. "Rumors of a Beheading Draw Crowds in Riyadh." New York Times 5 Apr 1975 : 3.