Sultan bin Abdulaziz

Sultan was born in Riyadh sometime between the mid to late 1920s to early 1930s, with the year being given as 1925, 1928, 1930, and 1931.

Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (c. 5 January 1928 – 22 October 2011) (سلطان بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود, Sulṭān ibn ʿAbdulʿazīz Āl Suʿūd), called Sultan the Good (سلطان الخير, Sulṭan al Khair) in Saudi Arabia, was the Saudi defense minister from 1963 to 2011 and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2011.

His career in public service began in 1940 when he was made a deputy to Riyadh governor or emir, Prince Nasser.

In 1947, Prince Sultan replaced Prince Nasser as governor of Riyadh.

Prince Sultan also assisted King Abdulaziz's attempts to establish a national administrative system based on the Islamic Sharia law during this period.

In 1947, Prince Sultan oversaw ARAMCO's construction of the Kingdom's rail link between Dammam and Riyadh.

Although the direct military experience of Prince Sultan was brief, heading the Royal Guard in Riyadh in the early 1950s, he felt a lifelong connection to the military and the cause of Saudi independence from an early age.

Major General Carl von Horn, Swedish commander of the UN observer mission during the Yemeni civil war, described the Prince Sultan as "a volatile and emotional young man" in the early days.

Following the assassination of Lebanese prime minister, Riad Al Solh, in 1951 King Abdulaziz sent Prince Sultan to Beirut to offer condolences to late prime minister's family.

He was appointed as the kingdom's first minister of agriculture in 1953 and minister of transport in 1955.

In 1963, Crown Prince Faisal appointed Prince Sultan as minister of defense and aviation.

He presided over the development of the Saudi armed forces.

During the reign of King Faisal, Prince Sultan was particularly interested in Yemen.

At the beginning of King Faisal's reign in 1964 Prince Sultan became a member of the council which had been established by the king to guide the succession issues.

As well, Sultan authorized a deal with the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1965.

His program, called Operation Magic Carpet, traded £16 million for six second-hand Lightnings, six Hawker Hunters, and a set of missile launchers going to Royal Saudi Air Force.

Geoffrey Edwards served as the official intermediary.

British pilots also came over, privately contracted.

In the late 1966 Prince Sultan survived an assassination attempt by the revolutionary Yemenites who were assisted by Egyptian intelligence.

His influence declined under the reign of King Khalid due to the fact that in 1977 Prince Sultan unsuccessfully tried to prevent Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz from becoming heir apparent when the king died.

Sultan purchased U.S. tanks, fighter planes, missiles, and AWACS (airborne warning and control systems).

However, as a result of problems assimilating technology within its armed forces, a relatively high proportion of the military equipment is stored or under maintenance, despite a large portion of Saudi's $34 billion defense budget being spent on maintaining military equipment.

Sultan allegedly became extraordinarily wealthy from kickbacks by Western businesses that handled multibillion-dollar defense contracts.

He was involved in many scandals, including the Al Yamamah deal.

However, his influence remained unhindered until his health began to deteriorate.

During his tenure, Saudi Arabia became the largest importer of U.S. arms, and he was a strong proponent of the U.S.-Saudi partnership.

On 13 June 1982, after the death of King Khalid and Crown Prince Fahd became the King, Prince Sultan was appointed second deputy prime minister.

Opposition to his appointment as second deputy prime minister came in particular from his elder half-brothers Musaid and Bandar.

The objection of Prince Musaid was easily ignored since his son, Faisal bin Musaid, had assassinated King Faisal.

However, the interests of Bandar bin Abdulaziz were much harder to ignore.

Thus, he was compensated and the dispute was resolved.

Prince Sultan was an expert on the Yemen civil war and Soviet involvement in the Horn of Africa in 1985.

Prince Sultan, in December 1995, attempted to seize power through the support of the Ulema when Crown Prince Abdullah was in Oman for a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

However, his attempted coup failed.

In 1996, Prince Sultan opposed Pentagon plans to relocate U.S. troops to safer locations after the Dhahran complex bombings.

He visited Iran in May 1999 - his visit was the first official visit of a Saudi minister since 1979.

Prince Sultan was one of the members of the Al Saud Family Council established by Crown Prince Abdullah in June 2000 to discuss private issues such as business activities of princes and marriages of princess to individuals who were not members of the House of Saud.

He was the 15th son of Ibn Saud and his mother was Hussa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi.

He was the second of the Sudairi Seven, who also included Fahd, Nayef and Salman.

Prince Sultan, along with many of his brothers, received his early education in religion, modern culture, and diplomacy at the royal court.