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Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz

Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Premier, Defence and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, died on 22 October 2011. Crown Prince Sultan had been in the United States for medical treatment since June 2011. His death, according to some reports, placed his brother Prince Nayef in line to succeed King Abdullah.

Prince Sultan was born in Riyadh in 1928, and received his early education in religion, modern culture and diplomacy along with his brothers at the royal court. Prince Sultan was appointed Governor of Riyadh in 1947. Much of his time, however, was taken up in assisting his father in the setting up of a national administrative system based on justice and the implementation of Islamic Shari'ah law.

HRH Prince Sultan became Minister of Agriculture in 1953 and Minister of Communications in 1955. In 1982, on the accession of King Fahd, Prince Sultan was named Second Deputy Prime Minister. Prince Sultan began public service when he was appointed Governor of Riyadh in 1947. In 1953, when the Council of Ministers was formed, he became Minister of Agriculture. In 1955, he was appointed Minister of Communications in which position he made a major contribution to the development of the Kingdom's road and telecommunications networks. At that time, he also oversaw the construction of the Kingdom's rail link between Dammam and Riyadh.

In 1963, Prince Sultan was appointed Minister of Defense and Aviation, an appointment he still holds. In this role, Prince Sultan has presided over the development of Saudi Arabia's army, navy and airforce, providing the Kingdom with a modern, well-equipped and well-trained defense capability, based on a network of military cities across the Kingdom. Prince Sultan is also Chairman of the Board of Saudi Arabian Airlines, the Kingdom's national airline. In addition, Prince Sultan is Chairman of the Higher Council for Islamic Affairs, a recently-formed organization dedicated to the service of Muslims and Muslim minorities throughout the world.

One of Prince Sultan's sons, Bandar, held the internationally prominent post of ambassador to the US, while another, Khalid, had been deputy defence minister since January 2002.

Prince Sultan denied the United States use of Saudi bases to stage military strikes on Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, stating that his government "will not accept in [Saudi Arabia] even a single soldier who will attack Muslims or Arabs." Years before, on the same way, Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Sultan stated his country would not permit allied aircraft to launch preventive or major retaliatory strikes against Iraq from bases in Saudi Arabia.

In November 2003 a U.S. District Court Judge has dismissed a lawsuit that was brought against certain members of the Saudi government. Judge Robertson said: "Plaintiff's allegations that Prince Sultan or Prince Turki funded those who carried out the September 11th attacks would stretch the causation requirement . not only to the farthest reaches of the common law but perhaps beyond, to terra incognita."

Prince Sultan has made statements against Jews for years. Following a ceremony at the Saudi Public Institution for Military Industries in June 2002, when asked about U.S. criticism of Saudi Arabia, Prince Sultan replied to the Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, "It is enough to see a number of congressmen wearing Jewish yarmulkes to explain the allegations against us." Subsequently, the Saudi royal family website 'Ain-Al-Yaqeen, quoted Prince Sultan as saying that the U.S. media, which is "under the Jewish influence," is using the U.S. reform initiative to widen the gap between Arab countries and the U.S.