Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RIYADH798
2009-06-16 08:45:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Riyadh
Cable title:  

KING'S SON-IN-LAW TAKES CONTROL OF SAUDI MINISTRY

Tags:  PGOV SCUL SA 
pdf how-to read a cable
O 160845Z JUN 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0993
C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000798 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV SCUL SA
SUBJECT: KING'S SON-IN-LAW TAKES CONTROL OF SAUDI MINISTRY
OF EDUCATION AND EDUCATION REFORM

REF: A) RIYADH 298 B) RIYADH 356 C) JEDDAH 47

Classified By: CDA AMBASSADOR RICHARD ERDMAN, 1.4(b),(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000798


E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV SCUL SA
SUBJECT: KING'S SON-IN-LAW TAKES CONTROL OF SAUDI MINISTRY
OF EDUCATION AND EDUCATION REFORM

REF: A) RIYADH 298 B) RIYADH 356 C) JEDDAH 47

Classified By: CDA AMBASSADOR RICHARD ERDMAN, 1.4(b),(d)


1. (U) SUMMARY: His Highness Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin
Mohammed (bin Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Faisal bin Turki, see
para. 9),King Abdullah's son-in-law and recently appointed
Minister of Education, assured Charge and Public Affairs
Counselor in a recent meeting of King Abdullah's firm
commitment to educational reform and his own mandate to
accelerate the pace of reform in the Ministry which alone
commands nineteen percent of Saudi Arabia,s national budget.
The Prince asserted that curriculum development, training,
and infrastructure projects begun under the Tatweer project
(septel) would continue. Diplomatically criticizing his
predecessor, he noted that he intended to execute the King,s
will: "Not experiment with, but implement educational
reform." End summary.

WE HAVE PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION, BUT ALSO OPPORTUNITIES
-------------- --------------


2. (C) The Prince began by reciting the rationale for the
Kingdom,s massive investment in education: "Education is
everything," he noted, "the present, the past, the future.
We do have problems, but no regrets, and we also have
opportunities." "Compare this initiative with the 1970s," he
continued, "People didn,t believe then that the Royal
Commission would succeed." (Note: a reference to the
large-scale Jubail and Yanbu economic development projects of
that period.) "They (critics) thought it would be a white
elephant, but it wasn,t. (The Saudi leadership) chose top
notch companies and has succeeded in adding value. Now,
though, we have to move beyond the dependence on oil. We
must have sustainable development and need to partner.
Education will be our real wealth," he suggested, "not oil;
this is the time now for change."

IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE "BUT I CAN'T USE THAT WORD"
-------------- ---


3. (C) "Oh, but I can,t use that word!" he interjected with
apparent alarm, "I mean we can improve on what we have;
we,re not changing." "After all, he continued, the entire
message came from the Prophet...to complete the message of
the three great religions. Islam came to complete the
cycle." "We must use the pen that is education...our customs
evolved from the verbal. If something is written, it is then

documented." He pointed to the framed painting above his
seat, an elegant Arabic calligraphy which read 'Iqra.'
"This is the first word of the Koran: Read!" he noted with
pleasure. (COMMENT: The Minister chose a translation that
gives the word more depth and relevance to education rather
than the more common translation of 'Recite.')

KING ANXIOUSLY SEEKS TO OVERCOME NEGATIVE
STEREOTYPES OF SAUDI ARABIA
--------------


4. (C) The Minister illustrated Saudi sensitivity to
international criticism and the King,s desire to place the
Kingdom in a positive light: "After 9/11," he stated, "after
terrorism, we,ve been stereotyped." He listed with obvious
distaste and resignation a progression of words he asserted
others have progressively used to negatively characterize the
Saudis, "First it was Arab, then Wahabi, Salafi, and then
'supported by Saudi Arabia'," he said, "This is how they
describe us."


5. (C) The Minister then asserted that this time the Kingdom
hopes to get it right. He referred to Saudi Arabia,s
special relationship to the Islamic world and its 1.5 billion
Muslims. He noted that King Abdullah is
an asset to dialogue and that even Israeli President Peres
had said to Abdullah at the UN, "You are the
hope." "Peres said this to the King!" he exclaimed. The
Minister repeated that 9/11 was the most important reminder;
a wakeup call that forced the Saudis to ask themselves what
was going on.

IMPROVING EDUCATION IS THE KING'S "DREAM" AND LEGACY
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Turning from the past to the future, the Minister
asserted that "We have had enough of people taking advantage
of us. The King realizes that this is the time (for action).
We brought together 300 people with knowledge to lay out a
strategy of how to build a knowledge economy. The King,s
dream for 25 years has been the construction of KAUST (King
Abdullah University of Science and Technology) and we have to
move it faster. Everything is management." (COMMENT: Saudi
Aramco was tasked with the fast track construction of KAUST
to keep the project out of the hands of the Education
Ministry, whose bureaucracy under the the previous leadership
was seen as a brake on change. KAUST is scheduled to open in
September 2009. The Minister made clear that this project *
86-year old King Abdullah,s legacy project * was a high
priority and must be completed as quickly as possible (Ref
C).)


7. (C) The Minister added that the Ministry of Education is
too big. Although education expenditures are between 25-30
percent of the Kingdom,s annual budget, between two-thirds
and three-fourths of this amount (nineteen percent of the
full budget) goes to operate the Ministry of Education.
While the Kingdom,s special development project for
education, Tatweer (septel),has moved forward enough to
include the formation of a holding company for joint
public-private ventures, progress has been stalled. Things
like this are a "mission," he said, "and
we,ve not been in touch with education and curriculum."
Carefully choosing his words, he said curriculum development
was progressing along "established lines." The target for
completion of all these reform projects was 2022, he said,
and the King,s next big initiative is judicial reform and
continued institutional development.

COMMENT AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
--------------


8. (C) The Prince articulated what many contacts have told
us: The King placed his son-in-law in the Ministry of
Education chair to kick-start the languishing education
reform effort, which has stalled at the most difficult stage,
that of fixing a public school system heavily laden with
conservatives. A leading educator from Jeddah,s King Abdul
Aziz University recently told PAO, "You see, a royal can,t
fail. And his wife is a fantastic asset." On the other
hand, the Prince,s careful attempt to monitor his own speech
during the meeting with Charge indicates the efforts the
Saudi leadership must make to keep their vocabulary of change
as neutral and non-threatening as possible as they move into
this phase of educational reform.


9. (C) The Minister, who comes from the Mohammed sub-branch
of the Saud bin Faisal branch of the al-Saud family, is King
Abdullah's nephew and also his son-in-law. He married the
King's favorite daughter Adela. His mother is Nouf bint
Abdulaziz, the King's full sister. The Prince claimed to
have actually pumped gas part-time in the 1970s while
studying for his Bachelor,s degree in the U.S. He managed
to slip references to Hiawatha, Eldridge Cleaver and
economist Joseph Schumpeter into the conversation.
Apparently an enthusiastic horse lover, he proudly bragged
about the Saudi who recently won an international racing
medal and noted that the Saudis will sponsor an Arabian horse
at the Kentucky Derby in 2010. He said he adores photography
and is looking forward to heading the Boy Scouts of Saudi
Arabia, a part of his portfolio. He also mentioned that he
would like to begin a Girl Scouts program.


ERDMAN