Khalid bin Sultan
Encyclopedia
Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

: خالد بن سلطان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود)(born 1949) is the Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

. He led Saudi troops in the First Persian Gulf War and also controversially led the botched Yemen bombing in late 2009. He is the eldest son of the late Crown Prince Sultan.

Early life and education

Khalid attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

 and the US Army's Command and General Staff College
Command and General Staff College
The United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. The college was established in 1881 by William Tecumseh Sherman as a...

 at Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...

 in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. He graduated from the Air War College
Air War College
The Air War College is a part of the United States Air Force's Air University, headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. Air University's higher headquarters is Air Education and Training Command headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. The Air War...

 at Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...

 in Alabama.

Military experience

Khalid served in various branches of Saudi Arabia's military before becoming Commander of the Joint Forces in the first Persian Gulf War. King Fahd
Fahd of Saudi Arabia
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, was King of Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005...

 promoted him to Field Marshal afterward. In 1991, he retired from the military to focus on business. In January 2001, he was brought back into military as Assistant Defense Minister of Military Affairs.

In early 2011, he announced that “more than 70 percent of military equipment can be produced locally" and the future creation of a government branch for domestic military growth. He is a likely candidate to replace his deceased father as Defense Minister. He has been criticized for his "weak military credentials".

2009 Yemen bombing

In November 2009, Khalid led a Saudi military intervention in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

. The campaign had various tactical mistakes and Khalid was heavily criticized. The Saudis had 130 casualties and Yemen lost over 1000.

In December 2009, Khalid gave a 48-hour ultimatum for Houthi withdrawal from Al-Jabri. Soon, he declared that the campaign had ended after the Houthi promised through Al-Quds Al-Arabi
Al-Quds Al-Arabi
Al-Quds Al-Arabi , is an independent pan-Arab daily newspaper published in London since 1989. The paper is owned by Palestinian expatriates, and edited by Abd al-Bari Atwan who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza Strip in 1950. Its motto is . Its circulation is estimated to be...

 they would withdraw from the border in exchange for a cease fire. The Houthi also stated that the Yemen government had used Saudi territory to bomb targets.

In February 2010, Ambassador Smith
James B. Smith
James B. Smith is the current United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Selected by President Barack Obama, he was sworn in on September 16, 2009.-Professional career:...

 met with Khalid. Smith brought attention to Saudi air strikes on Yemeni hospitals. Khalid admitted that the event occurred because Yemen had designated the area as a Houthi military base. He also stated that this event occurred because of inaccurate military equipment and the U.S. refusal to provide Predators. He went on to state that Saudi strategy was to force the Houthis to reconcile with the Yemeni government by a strong show of military force. He complained that it was difficult to avoid civilian casualties. The Saudi-Yemeni joint committee granted clearances to Khalid for attacks to be conducted. He complained that Yemeni intelligence was unreliable and politically motivated. Yemen data claimed terrorist positions in a place when in actuality the place was the office of General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, a political adversary to President Saleh
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Field Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh is the first President of the Republic of Yemen. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1978 until 1990, at which time he assumed the office of chairman of the Presidential Council of a post-unification Yemen. He is the...

.

Damaged reputation

King Abdullah
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is the King of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded to the throne on 1 August 2005 upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. When Crown Prince, he governed Saudi Arabia as regent from 1998 to 2005...

 was irritated by Khalid's leadership. Abdullah complained about the long duration of the conflict, large number of casualties, and Saudi incompetence. Khalid's likelihood of succeeding his father as Defense Minister largely decreased.

Other positions

He is the chairman for the committee of the Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz International Prize for Water..

He owns the newspaper Al-Hayat. He does not interfere in its articles as long as no royal criticism is published.

External links

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