Saudi ambassador to US resigns: Official

Washington, Dec 13: Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, has abruptly resigned after 15 months on the job, an embassy official said.

''The embassy can confirm that he is leaving. He wants to spend more time with his family,'' said the official, who asked not to be named as the announcement had not been made by the Saudi government.

Saudi Arabia has been a key ally of the United States and is the world's top oil exporter. Turki's predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, held the job for 22 years and the short tenure of the current envoy came as a surprise.

The official said Turki had submitted his resignation and told staff in Washington about his decision on Monday but he declined to provide further details.

Turki had served in a variety of government jobs since the early 1970s, including postings in London as well as director of intelligence. ''It's been a long career,'' the official said.

Diplomats in Riyadh said the health of Turki's brother, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, was not good and he appeared slow or ill in recent public appearances. That has fueled rumors that Turki would succeed him as minister.

Asked whether Turki was returning to Riyadh because of his brother's ill health, the embassy official declined comment. ''I cannot say what job he is going to do next,'' the official said.

The departure also came days after Turki fired a consultant who wrote an opinion piece published in The Washington Post that suggested the Saudi kingdom would back Iraq's Muslim Sunnis in the event of a wider sectarian conflict.

The article by a Saudi government security adviser, Nawaf Obaid, said the kingdom would intervene with funding and weaponry to prevent Shi'ite militias from attacking Iraq's Sunnis and suggested Saudi Arabia could bring down world oil prices to squeeze Shi'ite power Iran.

Saudi Arabia denied the assertions and Turki said he terminated a consultancy agreement with Obaid, who had said the views were his own and not of the Saudi government.

Turki was en route to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday where he would have meetings and take a prearranged vacation, the embassy official said.

''He has commitments for appointments in January and some speaking arrangements. He will also spend some time in Washington for his formal farewell,'' he said.

REUTERS