Agencies in Riyadh Thursday July 21, 2005 Guardian
Saudi Arabia's influential ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who helped preserve ties with the US after September 11 2001, has resigned for personal reasons, officials said yesterday.
The ambassador to London, Prince Turki al-Faisal, will replace Prince Bandar after two decades in the high-profile job during which he enjoyed enviable access to the White House and successive US presidents. Prince Turki, 60, resigned as chief of the kingdom's foreign intelligence service a month before 9/11. He was named in a lawsuit filed by relatives of the victims but a US judge later ruled he had immunity.
The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, described Prince Bandar as a close and steadfast friend of the US and a "tireless advocate for close ties, warm relations, and mutual understanding".
The diplomatic shuffle came as the US issued its latest warning against travel to Saudi Arabia, saying militants were planning a new attack. The US embassy in Riyadh said there were no specifics on timing or targets.
Hours after the warning, the Saudi interior ministry said security forces had uncovered a cache of more than two tonnes of bomb-making equipment 50 miles south-east of the capital.
The arsenal included fertiliser, ammonium nitrate, aluminium powder, potassium nitrate and other chemicals used by suspected al-Qaida militants to make bombs deployed in attacks on western housing compounds and security forces buildings.
Security forces who searched the hideout on Tuesday also found pipebombs, acid and electrical equipment.
Militants have killed 91 foreign nationals and Saudi civilians in the past two years and caused more than £140m worth of damage, Saudi officials say. -- "Rest and relaxation rocket to my brain" [Talking Heads]