As Ambassador to the US, to be replaced by his cousin
Prince Turki al-Faisal. al-Faisal has been
suspected of funding Osama Bin Laden and supporting the Taliban, and is the former head of Saudi Intelligence and currently is envoy to the UK. He resigned from the intelligence post one month before 9/11, leading some to speculate that he had advance knowledge of the attack. He spoke out against going to war in Iraq without full UN authorization, and has made comments critical of Bush administration prosecution of the war and aftermath.
more:
Apparently Bandar has been
considering this for quite a while.
al-Faisal is said to be an ally of Crown Prince Abdullah, who is the current defacto head of the Saudi government, while King Fahd linger's in his Schrodinger's Cat-like state of dead/notdead. Abdullah is no friend to the US.
This seems like quite an important move for Saudi Arabia, and may reveal the direction the country will be taking in the future: further away from the US, closer to the Wahhabis (and jihadis?). Is this the end of the special relationship?
Poor George. Who will hold his hand when he gets scared?