*** Welcome to piglix ***

Mishaal bin Saud

Mishaal bin Saud Al Saud
Governor of Najran Province
In office April 1997 – November 2008
Successor Mishaal bin Abdullah
Monarch King Fahd
King Abdullah
Born 1940 (age 76–77)
Spouse Sara bint Faisal bin Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Full name
Mishaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
House House of Saud
Father King Saud
Mother Noura Bint Nahar Al Mandeel
Religion Islam
Full name
Mishaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Mishaal bin Saud Al Saud (Arabic: مشعل بن سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎‎; born 1940) was the governor of the Najran Province from April 1997 to November 2008 and is a member of House of Saud.

Prince Mishaal is one of King Saud's children.

Mishaal bin Saud was formerly military officer. He successfully led a national guard unit that was among the first sent to defend the northern border during the 1991 Gulf War. His military expertise provided him with the opportunity to hold the position in the Najran Province as governor.

Mishaal bin Saud was made governor of the Najran Province in April 1997. Najran Province is border-area with Yemen. Therefore, the possibility of terror cells crossing from Yemen into Saudi Arabia is a serious threat. Tensions among the Ismaili community remained high since Prince Mishaal's arrival as governor, leading to major protests in 2000. Ismailis accused the local government of harassment, discrimination and arbitrary arrest and detention. As a result, activists from Najran petitioned King Abdullah to remove Prince Mishaal. To succeed, Mishaal bin Saud must be able to govern the local Ismaili population and maintain stability. However, Najran Province became the scene of violent clashes in 2000, when hundreds of Ismailis clashed with police. Ismailis told that it was the spur for plans to reduce their presence in the province, but that the settlement policy could provoke more social unrest. On 23 April 2000, three months after the authorities closed down their mosques on the Ismaili day of Eid al Fitr, strained relations between Ismaili Najranis and the governor, Mishaal bin Saud, came to a head over the arrest of an Ismaili cleric.

Saudi Shiites asked the authorities to decline the settlement plans of Sunni Muslim Yemenis in southern Saudi Arabia to change the demographic balance in favor of Sunnis, although they are the majority. The Ismaili Shiites of Najran said they had petitioned King Abdullah in 2006 to halt settlement of up to 10,000 Yemeni tribesmen in housing projects built for them on the surrounding area of Najran city.


...
Wikipedia

...