Muammar Gaddafi was killed and all the Libyans were unanimous in their hatred for him, in death as in life. On the other hand, the Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz died and all the Saudis were unanimous in their love for him, in death as in life as well. Today marks one week since he passed away. I had gone to the Royal Court with colleagues Ghassan Charbel and Raja Rassi, to offer our condolences to the brothers and sons of the late Prince. I found myself at the entrance of the royal hall with a huge crowd of the finest people scrambling to enter, so much so that I got separated from my colleagues. In the end, a young prince let me stand in front of him and I walked behind a general in the Royal Guard, as we entered the hall together. People's feelings cannot be bought or sold. Rather, they are a mirror of governance. The Saudis showed their gratitude for Prince Sultan for a life he dedicated to serve the country and its citizens, just like the Libyans unanimously showed their condemnation for Gaddafi and his reign, and perhaps the tears that escaped the eyes of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, in grief for his brother, were on behalf of all the people. I found Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz visibly saddened and fatigued, just like Prince Khalid bin Sultan, his brother Prince Fahd and all the other brothers, as well as Princes Khalid al-Faisal, Saud al-Faisal and Turki al-Faisal. The mourners included dozens of heads of state, prime ministers and ministers from around the world. From Lebanon, I saw Saad Hariri, the former Prime Minister, and my friends Minister Ghazi Aridi and MP Tammam Saeb Salam. I will not go back today to the track record of Prince Sultan. The Saudis know him better than I do, and as such, they called him “the Sultan of Charity”. When he was 16 years old he was the Prince of Riyadh, and he sponsored the foundation that carried his name and dozen other similar foundations. He built the Saudi armed forces, and held a historical border agreement with Yemen that was called “the agreement of the century”. He then passed away after serving for six uninterrupted decades in the Saudi cabinet. My conversations with Prince Sultan were almost exclusively about Saudi foreign policy and Arab and international relations, often adorned with some ancient poetry, wise sayings and proverbs. I saw him as someone who carried the banner of the Palestinian Cause, to the point that he forgave its leader Yasser Arafat some of his mistakes and blunders. I also saw him as he stood on Kuwait's side after the occupation, and witnessed how he returned because of this to Riyadh, even before he could finish recuperating from surgery…When I told him in his office, during the first week of the occupation, that I was fearful for the future of Kuwait and that Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is one of the dearest people to me, in a manner that goes beyond his capacity as foreign minister (at the time), he put his hand on my shoulder and told me that Kuwait shall be liberated, and that Sheikh Sabah shall return. My first meeting in Kuwait after the liberation was with Sheikh Sabah at his home, and I remember that he resigned from his post as foreign minister, before returning afterwards as the Emir of Kuwait. I write today about some special memories about Prince Sultan, and as usual when I talk about a departed leader, I only write what I have a recording or transcript of, made at the time it was said, or what I have living witnesses to. I thus choose to share with the readers a story I have, to which there is a very fair witness, who is my friend Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, the Saudi ambassador in London. Prince Sultan conducted an official visit to Italy in September, 1997. At the time, I was Editor in Chief at Al-Hayat, so I travelled from London to Rome to follow up the visit and accompany the Prince. I remember that I found myself at the official dinner held by Prime Minister Romano Prodi, in honor of the Saudi Minister of Defense, along with the chief of the Italian Air Force, who had a chest full of medals that must date back to the Roman Empire, because the Italians had not won a war or battle for two thousand years. The Italian general complained that although the new Eurofighter was produced by a number of European countries that did not include Britain, all the specifications and details were in English, because of the U.S. domination over international aviation. I told him what means in Arabic: Do not complain to me because I will cry to you (about America). The visit included a meeting between the Prince and Pope John Paul II at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, along with Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, the Saudi Ambassador in Rome before he was posted to London, his military attaché, and I, after he invited me personally to accompany him. Prince Sultan prepared himself thoroughly for the meeting, and in the private meeting with the Pope, he told him about the Palestinians and their plight, and about the role the Vatican is urged to play in defending Jerusalem and the Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims. This was followed by further discussion in our presence, and Prince Sultan raised the issue of the Palestinian Cause again and the role the Arabs and Muslims want the Vatican to play to help the Palestinians. The Pope was careful in his responses, and chose to say that he prayed for the wellbeing of the Saudi people and for good health for King Fahd. However, Prince Sultan managed to obtain, in the end, positive promises from the Pope, and I noticed that these had a palpable impact on the subsequent attitudes by the Vatican. Prince Sultan told me as we returned to Rome that the Pope was “difficult”, but that he was nonetheless intelligent and fair. May God have mercy on you, Abu Khalid, and mercy on us all. Jihad el-Khazen
