Saud al-Faisal, former Saudi foreign minister, dies

Prince Saud breathed his last in the U.S, Al Arabiya News cited his family members as saying.

Saudi Arabia’s ex- foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal died Thursday two months after he was replaced on the job, Saudi officials said.

It did not give the cause of death but said funeral prayers would be held on Saturday night in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Salman was himself crowned as the king of Saudi Arabia on January 23, following the death of his half brother, King Abdullah, at the age of 90.

“The work we are doing to confront Iran’s influence has achieved successes in several countries and we see the presence of Iran has shrunk in some areas in Africa and Yemen”, Jubeir said, without elaborating.

Relatives earlier announced Saud’s death on social media.

In a statement, President Barack Obama said “generations of American leaders” had benefited from Faisal’s “thoughtful perspective, charisma and poise, and diplomatic skill”, adding, “May God grant him peace”.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said the world lost a “noble” diplomat who defended his nation with “courage and valor”. “He worked tirelessly for peace”.

He’s calling Prince Saud a skilled diplomat who pursued Mideast stability and was committed to U.S.-Saudi relations.

Iran has denied giving weapons to the Huthi rebels.

He retained that incisiveness even as a chronic back complaint and other maladies in recent years made his hands shaky and his speech slurred.

He is considered one of the oldest ministers of foreign affairs in the world, where he took office in 1975 and stayed in office until April 29 2015.

Al-Faisal played a key role in patching ties with the United States which were strained by the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

The German embassy in Riyadh also tweeted its condolences.

The prince often swapped his traditional Saudi thobe and checkered shemagh headdress for elegant suits when on missions in Western capitals. He achieved his university degree at Princeton in the United States before working in the Petroleum Ministry.