Saudi king names Jubeir as new envoy to US

RIYADH, Jan 29 (Reuters) King Abdullah has named his US-educated foreign policy adviser Adel al-Jubeir as Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, the official Saudi Press Agency reported today.

A royal decree published by the agency confirmed the resignation of Prince Turki al-Faisal, who quit as the kingdom's envoy in the capital of its closest Western ally last month after about 15 months in the post.

A US official said in December the Saudi government had asked Washington to consent to its choice of Jubeir, 44, to represent the world's largest oil exporter.

Saudi ties with its traditional ally have undergone a period of tension since the 2003 US-led war in Iraq.

Prince Turki's resignation fuelled speculation that he may succeed his ailing brother Prince Saud al-Faisal as foreign minister.

He resigned two days after he fired an adviser who wrote an opinion piece published in the Washington Post suggesting the kingdom, a bastion of Sunni Islam, would back Iraq's Sunnis in the event of a wider sectarian conflict with members of the Shi'ite sect.

Saudi Arabia has since said it will not take sides in Iraq's sectarian violence.

Jubeir is a well-known figure in Washington government circles. Young and articulate, he was designated by the kingdom to lead a public effort to dissociate the royal family from the Islamic extremism of al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks in the United States.

Fifteen of the 19 militants who carried out attacks in 2001 were Saudis.

REUTERS SP BST2224