Middle East Conflict Biographies | Faisal Saud Biography

Born c. 1904 (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
Died on March 25, 1975 (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)

King of Saudi Arabia

King Faisal ibn Abd al Aziz ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia was not the first king of this Arab nation, nor the longest serving, but he was probably the most influential. Faisal, as he is most often known, almost single-handedly brought responsible government to a nation long ruled by the personal whim of the king. He also won worldwide respect for both Saudi Arabia and the other Arab oil-producing nations when he engineered the formation of a group known as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In the mid-1970s Faisal and other OPEC members used their control of the world's oil supplies as a political tool to demonstrate their support for Palestinians in their clash with Israel. Faisal's wise management of oil resources helped make Saudi Arabia one of the richest nations in the...