Assassination of King Faisal 1975.

The year 1975 was one of the most difficult years in the history of Bahrain. The state was trying to race against time to catch up with the march of progress and civilization, the modern techniques and institutions, and Bahrainis found themselves compelled to engage in quarrels that benefited none. The State was also trying to employ all means and capabilities for the well-being and prosperity of its people. Bahrain had to impose its authority against the attempts to prejudice its prestige and status, but a great event has made this year exceptional difficult and full of deep grief and pain.

While Bahrain was monitoring the activities of its National Council, and working with caution of any attempts to disrupt its peace, devastating, sudden news came from its neighbor, Saudi Arabia that King Faisal was assassinated!

It was the will of God that Bahrain loses a man it loves and respects who stood with Bahrain and all the Arabs ; he was a dear friend of Bahrain, and a brother to His Highnesses Sheikh Isa bin Salman and Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman.

Bahrain had a date with the bereavement.

The brothers, a date with sadness.

On the morning of Tuesday, March 25th, 1975, the Office of the Saudi Monarch was preparing to start its day; the agenda was full of meetings and interviews with the King and included the names of many Saudi and Gulf figures.

In the Office of Protocol, the Kuwaiti oil minister Abdel Motalib Sadir, and The Saudi oil minister, Dr. Ahmed Zaki Yamani, in addition to a number of princes from the royal family, including the young prince Faisal bin Musaid.

Once the doors were opened, and the two ministers were authorized to enter to the King, with photographers form newspapers and news agencies, Prince Faisal bin Musaid rushed to enter the Hall and immediately directed towards King Faisal, as if to salute him, and shot him with his gun; King Faisall died on the spot!

Thus, an insidious evil ends the life of a great a man who spent his life working for the good of the Arab and Islamic worlds, and the Gulf countries in particular. The man, whom the whole world certifies his noble qualities and sound wisdom, has passed away.

Faisal bin Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud was born in Riyadh in November 1906 and was named Faisal after the victory of his father, King Abdul Aziz in Rawdat Al Muhanna battle, a victory which was considered an arbiter in the dispute between the Al Saud and Al Rasheed.

Faisal entered the practical, political arena when he was only two years old. He was very attached to his father King Abdul Aziz, who saw in him intelligence and insight since an early age. He spent part of his early age in the custody and care of his grandfather (the father of his mother), Imam Abdullah, who was Najds Intellect at that time; his mother Torfa bint Abdullah died while he was only fifth months old. Therefore, he was sent to his grandfather in Jeddah to receive education that is based on the teachings of our religion.

When he was twelfth years old, his father took him to Baten Battle, and there he showed courage and daring that his father entrusted him with the leadership of a disciplinary campaign to quell a rebellion in the area of Asir. His great success enabled him to assume command of the Saudi forces in Tihama region and Asir, where he managed to seize Hodeida, bint Faqih and Mabdi.

When he was thirteen years old, his father chose him to represent him in congratulating Britain after its victory in the First World War; his trip lasted six months, during which he visited Wales, Ireland, France and Belgium.

In 1922, his father, the King Abdul Aziz, sent him at the head of an army of six thousand fighters to extinguish the strife engulfed in Asir; he won a great victory. He showed great wisdom that brought him closer to the heart and mind of his father, who was appointed in 1926 as the prosecutor of the king in Al Hejaz and Chairman of the Shura Council.

In 1927, King Abdul Aziz chose his son Faisal to run the negotiations with Clayton, the English General, who arrived in Jeddah to amend the Treaty of Uqayr Britain, which was concluded with Saudi Arabia in 1915. As a result of these negotiations, Uqayr treaty was cancelled, and Britains full recognition of the independence of King Abdul Aziz. Faisal was entrusted by his father in 1930 when he was first chosen for the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
the Saudi Kingdom, and then gave him the responsibility of chairing the Agents Council, the Shura Council, the judiciary, and the Interior, and the Presidency of the Council of the Lords of subsidiaries.

In 1932, he announced the unification of Hejaz and Najd under the name of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which found that the wholeness of its identity will not be complete without subduing the tribes of Midi, Al Haya, and Moore and Zaraniq. Thus, he sent Faisal for the task and performed his best in this task, although this assignment was concurrent with the arrival of British troops to Hodeida on the pretext of protecting the British from the Indians in Yemen.

Faisal succeeded in persuading them to withdraw assuring them that he will end what was left of the outstanding issues with Yemen, which ended with Taif Treaty on 6 Safar 1353 Hijri, in which Yemen approved the affiliation of Asir and Tihama under the Saudi rule.

Since then, Prince Faisal handled and performed many diplomatic activities; representing Saudi Arabia, in many conferences and meetings ... He participated in London conference, which was held between the 7th to the 14th of February, 1939 to discuss the problem of Palestine and on April 20, 1945 he signed agreements with Kuwait to regulate the relationship with it as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He had earlier visited the United States of America in response to an invitation from the President Franklin Roosevelt. On the way back, he met with King George V, King of Britain, and then met with General de Gaulle, the leader of Free France at that time.

Faisal was one of the most prominent participants in the development of the Charter of the United Nations in the conference, which was held for this purpose in San Francisco in 1945. He made an important speech in the name of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the United Nations in 1947 rejecting the principle of the partition of Palestine.

In October 1953, Faisal became vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and then in the same year in November, Prince Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz became the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia upon the death of King Abdul Aziz, God have mercy upon his soul, and King Saud bin Abdul Azizs handling of the reins of power in the Kingdom.

Faisal occupied the office of President of the Council of Ministers in addition to being the Crown Prince upon the handling of King Saud bin Aziz the reins of power in Saudi Arabia. On March 23, 1964, he was handled the management of all the affairs of the State, by the famous fatwa issued by the Saudi scholars and supported by the princes of Al Saud, and because of the persuasion of the scientists, the princes, and the people, he signed on March 13, 1964, a decree, endorsing the decision of the Council of Ministers to assume all the responsibilities and the executive, administrative and judicial authorities, in addition to the position of The High Command of the Armed Forces.

In the 2nd of November, Faisal was announced king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the basis of the advisory opinion of the scientists and the approval of senior princes and the royal family and the decision of the Council of Ministers, which met under the chairmanship of Prince Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz. King Saud was then alive but did not participate in pledging allegiance to the King until the 2nd of November 1965.

His Majesty King Faisal met most leaders of the world during his ruling, and he attracted respect of everyone; he was a pioneer of the modern Arab renaissance, and an advocate of peace between nations and peoples. He was a formidable leader and history has recorded his courageous Arab initiatives, starting from his decision to stop pumping oil to the West after the Israeli aggression on the Arab territories in 1967, through his calls for withholding the Arab oil from the United States and Europe in 1973 and ending with his leading, firm position of rejecting capitulation solutions with Israel.

The news of the death of King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was a staggering for everyone in Bahrain and the whole world, However, the close relationship that was intensified over the years between him and Issa and Khalifa made the news the most dramatic al over Bahrain. A wave of sadness and pain swept the country, which declared its mourning for the late king. The two brothers: Isa and Khalifa, were the first leaders to arrive to Saudi Arabia to participate in the funeral.

Bahrain has also formed a delegation of official and popular figures to offer condolences and participate with the grief of the Saudi people and government; it comprised of: Hassan Jawad Jashi, President of the National Council, Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Sheikh Mubarak Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, and a large number of sheikhs, ministers, and senior officials of the State.

We have raised several questions about the reasons behind the assassination of King Faisal, mercy upon his soul, at the hands of his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid, especially since the killer was close to his uncle despite the rumors about his unstable behavior. Faisal bin Musaid was about to marry and his fiance was the daughter of King Saud bin Abdul Aziz, and the arrangements had been made to celebrate the marriage in the same week in which King Faisal was killed.

Faisal bin Musaid was tranquil in nature, however, he was suffering from addiction to alcohol and drugs; has received his education in the United States and graduated from there - after several interruptions - in 1971.

He obtained a diploma in political science.

During his study and life in the United States, he immersed in the western life, addicted on drugs and was also convicted on charges of abuse. It is also known that he lived with an American girlfriend for about five years, and who defended him enthusiastically when the Saudi press described him as mentally imbalanced

Was there a hidden hand behind this assassination which shook the whole world, and took the life of an extraordinary Arab leader that the Arab nation need most in this difficult time in our history? Was Faisal bin Musaid, a killing machine, has he been brainwashed, from a major international state! Then who is the beneficiary of the killing of King Faisal?

Still these questions impose themselves on historians, and it seems they will remain unanswered; the killer was executed after only two days of the implementation of this heinous crime; did he die with the truth?!

After Faisal, King Khalid was appointed King of Saudi Arabic, and Prince Fahd became the Crown Prince.

In the reign of King Khaled bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi-Bahraini relations gained more mutual trust, and more meetings with the brothers: His Highness Sheikh Isa and His Highness Sheikh Khalifa for the benefit of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, and the Arab and Islamic nations.

King Khalid was a lover of the reluctance and distanced himself away from excessive living; he loved the desert life, and was close the tribesmen, who showed him genuine love and respect. He was fond of fishing and horseback riding; he spent much of his last years in reign suffering from the disease till his dies.
King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz succeeded him; he was known for his close relationship with His Highness Sheikh Isa Bin Salman and his brother, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa. In his reign, the Bahraini-Saudi relation became very close and reached its utmost coordination within the range of the Gulf Cooperation Council.