Seldom did Prince Sultan appear without an encouraging or affectionate smile on his face. However, Prince Faisal bin Saud bin Muhammad, a close associate of the late crown prince, narrated an incident when his charming smile faded. It was back in 1979 when Juhaiman Al-Otaibi, the head of a deviant band, outraged the Muslim world by occupying the Grand Mosque, according to a report in Al-Eqtisadiah business daily on Monday.
“Prince Sultan was leading the war of liberation to flush out the deviants from the holy precincts. I call it a war because it was tougher than an ordinary war. Normal warfare machines could not be used there considering the sacredness of the place,” Prince Faisal said.
Prince Sultan stood firm against all odds and his speech to the soldiers stationed inside the Grand Mosque while the terrorists occupied the basement was famous.
“Prince Sultan was directing the war from the Shabra Hotel close to the Grand Mosque. One day a terrorist fired at the prince from the window of his suite. The prince was not hurt and the bullet landed on the wall behind him. A stunned aide started yelling. The prince grabbed the aide and ordered him to shut his mouth. He warned him in the sternest tone: 'I will not spare you if this news ever goes out of this room,” Prince Faisal said.
The event also demonstrated the crown prince's courage and wisdom especially in that delicate moment. “He did not want to undermine the morale of soldiers by spreading the news that an enemy sniper had sneaked into the prince's suite. He continued sleeping in the same room until the end of the campaign without anybody knowing about the sniper attack,” Prince Faisal added.
The crown prince was kind and well disposed to all, including his personal staff. Prince Faisal narrated another incident in which the crown prince even covered for a gross lapse on the part of one of his staff members.
“Once Prince Sultan was walking with King Fahd after a Royal Court meeting. They walked discussing some state affairs until they reached the king's car. The king invited the prince to join him in the car so that they could continue their discussions,” Prince Faisal said.
The discussions between the two leaders continued until the car reached Prince Turki Road and the king invited the prince to his palace. The prince excused himself saying that he planned to visit a patient in King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Prince Faisal added.
“Prince Sultan got down on the Prince Turki Road and told the king's retinue to proceed. The prince was surprised not to see his car and staff following behind. He was under the impression that his aides were following him when in fact they were waiting for him at the Royal Court unaware of the fact that he was accompanying the king. He walked down the sidewalk hoping that they would turn up any moment. But no one appeared. Then the prince waved down a Datsun pickup passing by and requested the driver for a lift. The driver agreed. After the driver started the vehicle he had a closer look at his fellow passenger. He was aghast when he learned that the second deputy premier was sitting beside him. The prince allayed his fears saying, 'Don't be afraid son, please drop me at the specialist hospital'.”
The prince visited the patient and then contacted his aides to inform them of his whereabouts, said Prince Faisal.
“That could probably be one of the most embarrassing and difficult situations in the prince's life. However, he was not angry at his driver or aides, but blamed himself for not telling them that he was with the king,” Prince Faisal said.
As a close associate of the crown prince, Prince Faisal had a deep understanding of his extraordinary personality.
According to Prince Faisal, the crown prince never compromised on justice and fairness. The prince recounted an incident to which he was a witness.
It was when Prince Sultan was discharging the duties of the king, who was vacationing, as then Crown Prince Abdullah was on a foreign tour. “I saw broad smile on Prince Sultan's face. He was reading a newspaper and I was sitting close to him. He said, 'This is a cable sent to the king by a man in Delam near Al-Kharj complaining about me after one of my undersecretaries grabbed his property',” Prince Faisal said.
“Prince Sultan forwarded the cable to Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman with a note saying the undersecretary should be put on trial and the Shariah law applied 'whether for us or against us',” Prince Faisal said, adding that in his capacity as the acting king, Prince Sultan could have ignored the complaint.
Prince Faisal recounted an incident affirming Prince Sultan's political insight when he was in the United States for knee surgery. It was the time the US and the Kingdom had some disagreement over the Saudi deal for the purchase of Chinese missiles.
The Kingdom refused to comply with the US demand to cancel the deal, which was apparently made under Israeli pressure. In a visit to the prince, former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage demanded that the US inspectors should be allowed to examine the missiles to ensure that they were not unconventional weapons.
Prince Sultan agreed to Armitage's demand in apparent contravention of the stated Saudi policy. Prince Sultan, however, added that Saudi Arabia would consent to the US demand under one condition — the inspection team should consist of Israeli and Saudi inspectors apart from US inspectors and that the inspectors could verify the Chinese missiles only after visiting Israel to make sure that its arsenal did not have any unconventional warheads. The US official replied that Israel would not allow any inspection of its weapons.
Then the prince asked the US official how his country could demand inspection of Saudi weapons that the Kingdom had bought with its own money when Israel had refused inspection of its arms which it had bought with US money and support. This is just one of the countless instances when the prince showed his political acumen.
