The day started for me on a sad note. About to set out of the house, my cell sounded an alert beep. It was a message informing me about the sad demise of the beloved Prince Ahmad ibn Salman. I was stunned in disbelief, and murmured ... this cannot happen.. but then it was a fact.
The untimely death of Prince Ahmad, at a young age, must have been the most sorrowful blow to his father Prince Salman ibn Abdul Aziz and his uncle King Fahd ibn Abdul Aziz. For only last year Prince Salman had lost his other son Prince Fahd ibn Salman, who was fondly called and remembered as the "Prince of the People".
Prince AhmadÕs human qualities are plenty, and words would not be enough to describe his nature and his personality. He did not discriminate against the Saudi and expatriate employees of the Saudi Research & Marketing Group, and always acknowledged and appreciated the role of the expatriates in the growth and development of the company.
I was fortunate to have known Prince Ahmad during the Gulf War in 1991-92, when he frequently visited "Arab News". It was routine for him to drop in for a few minutes into the office of Khaled Al Maeena, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, for whom he had special place in his heart and a strong bond of relationship.
It was Khaled Al Maeena, who first introduced me to the prince in a very unique way. Khaled described me as his hatchet man and also the clone of the former FBI director Edgar Hoover, and told the Prince that I was the man for all seasons who could execute any given task with finesse. Extending a warm handshake, Prince Ahmad had a big smile on his shinning face and with a touch of humor turning toward Al-Maeena said: "Well, if what you say about this man is true, then let him do the impossible by freeing Kuwait single-handedly.Ó Taken aback by the remarks of the prince, I told him, "your royal highness, if the multinational forces of several countries are taking such a long time to complete that task, then asking me to do that, is out of question". Prince Ahmad then patted me on the back and said, okay, okay, we shall all get Kuwait free some day, and then asked me to have tea with him.
So simple, so humble, so generous, was Prince Ahmad. On few occasions, I had spoken to him, when he had called to speak to Khaled Al-Maeena, I was surprised that he used to make the calls directly without the assistance of his staff. Even on phone, he was polite and courteous, that he never gave the impression that he was the "boss" or a royal personality.
Sometime after the Gulf War was over, I came once again face to face with Prince Ahmad. I was climbing the stairs along with a Saudi colleague of mine, Faiza Ambah, to the third floor office of Arab News, while he was descending the stairs along with key company officials when we met near the first floor exit. He recognized me and suddenly taking hold of my right arm he asked "hatchet man, How are you?.Ó
The greatest quality in Prince Ahmad was that he was a thorough gentleman, a decent person and a man of words. He was not only noble but kind, generous and God fearing. He was just and personally ensured that grievances of his company employees were addressed and solved without delay. His doors were always open and was accessible to people.
Prince Ahmad disliked sycophancy. Decisions taken by him were fair and final. He spoke out his mind at board meetings, and never hesitated to take action if wrong had been done.
Without exaggeration and from my long experience in Saudi Research and Marketing Group, I can vouch that Prince Ahmad was extremely close to two persons in the company, whom he trusted and sought advice. One of them was Muhammed Al-Shibani and the other Khaled Al-Maeena.
Arab News, had been very close to Prince Ahmad. In an incident which I remember too well, the prince had assigned one American mediaman Pat Murphy in 1990 to give him a report on how the newspaper could be brought to international standards. Murphy, came visiting soon, talked to some staff including Al-Maeena, discussed several options and left. He later submitted a report to the prince, who in turn discussed it with Al-Maeena, who disagreed with the contents of the Murphy report and convinced the prince, that he and his staff were quite capable of enhancing the newspaperÕs standard, in a far better way than what Murphy had suggested in his report. Soon in December 1990, Al-Maeena laid out the plans to shift the newspaper to modular system, which prevails even today. Thus the Murphy report was sent to the freezer by Prince Ahmad.
Yes, the Kingdom has lost a valuable asset, the countrymen a noble person, and the people who knew him a decent human being. The biggest blow has been to the disabled children, whom the prince gave special attention. Not only the disabled have become the orphan, but even people who sought his help for charitable cause and for justice. The departure of the prince has left void among the people. Me and my family too mourn the prince.
I pray to Almighty Allah to give strength to the bereaved family to bear the loss and also pray that Allah grants peace and a place in Paradise to the departed soul.
