Kamal Adham

Kamal Adham was born in Istanbul in 1929.

His father, Ibrahim Adham, was a police officer of Albanian origin.

His mother, Asia, was Turkish.

Adham had two half-siblings, Iffat bint Mohammad and Zaki bin Mohammad Al Thunayan, and a full-brother, Muzaffar.

Adham went to Jeddah with his father when he was one year old.

He was raised by King Faisal, spouse of his sister Iffat.

Adham studied at Victoria College in Alexandria and then at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Adham was very crucial in improving the Saudi Arabia's relations with the United Kingdom which had become tense after the Buraimi oasis affair in 1955.

He had also significant effects in maintaining the relations with Egypt.

CIA financially supported Anwar Sadat, then vice president of Gamal Nasser, through Adham when Sadat had financial problems.

His business dealings began in 1957, long before his post as the head of the GIP.

He founded the Kamal Adham Group in Saudi Arabia, which became one of the biggest companies in the country.

Additionally he was the primary liaison of the CIA for the Middle East as a whole from the mid-1960s to 1979 when he left the GIP.

He fostered and maintained nascent ties with several Arab intelligence services, as many were slowly creating independent institutions to serve their respective governments.

Kamal Adham joined the Saudi government as the chief of external intelligence agency in 1964.

King Faisal appointed him as head of Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah (later renamed General Intelligence Presidency (GIP)) in 1965, making him the first president of the agency.

Adham was sent by King Faisal to meet Sadat in May 1971, shortly after he was sworn in as president.

Adham tried to persuade him to cooperate with the US.

In the meeting, Sadat stated that after the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from Egypt, he would expel the Soviet forces from Egypt.

He also assured that Adham could transmit his message to the US administration.

As a result of Adham's visit, Sadat expelled 22,000 Soviet military advisors from the country in 1972.

Adham told his associates in 1972 that the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, would be removed.

His prediction was not taken into consideration or shared by advisors of the US president Nixon.

Adham acted as a liaison between the GIP, which reported to the king, and the US administration.

In 1972, he met the founder of the BCCI, Agha Hasan Abedi.

The same year Adham founded a contracting firm, Almabani, in Saudi Arabia.

Adham closely worked with George H. W. Bush, who was appointed CIA director in 1976.

Adham signed the charter of the Safari Club, an anti-communist foreign policy initiative on behalf of Saudi Arabia that was proposed and realized by French intelligence chief Alexandre de Marenches in 1976.

The other participating countries of the Club were Egypt, Iran and Morocco.

The first meeting of the group was held in Saudi Arabia in 1976.

Adham became a significant figure in the Club and worked for it for a long time.

Adham also had business activities, for which he used his connections with the House of Saud.

Raymond Close, a former CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia, left CIA and began to work for Adham in 1977 when he was the head of the GIP.

Adham was also one of the major shareholders of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).

Adham's tenure lasted for fourteen years until 19 January 1979 when he was dismissed and replaced by Turki bin Faisal in the post.

Therefore, he also served as the head of the GIP during King Khalid's term.

Adham served as royal counsellor to King Faisal and then, to King Khalid.

Adham was among the close advisors to King Khalid from 1975 to 19 January 1979.

Kamal Adham (كمال ابراهيم ادهم; 1929 – 29 October 1999) was a Saudi businessman and the director general of Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah from 1965 to 1979.

He served as a royal counsellor to both King Faisal and King Khalid.