Saad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud


Saad bin Abdulaziz was a former governor of 'Asir and a member of House of Saud. He was also a former chairman of royal family council of Al Saud. The Council was created to look after the members of the Saudi royal family and was not related to any political issues. The current chairman is King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Early life and education

Prince Saad was born in Riyadh in 1915 as the seventh son of Ibn Saud. However, there is another report, citing his birth year as 1920. His mother was Jawhara bint Saad Al Sudairi. Jawhara bint Saad was the sister of Haya bint Saad who was also spouse of Ibn Saud and the mother of Prince Badr, late Prince Abdul Majid and Prince Abdul Illah. Prince Saad had two full brothers Prince Abdul Muhsin and Prince Musa'id. Al Bandari bint Abdulaziz was his full sister.

Military career

Prince Sa'ad participated for the first time in the war at the Battle of Sabilla against Ikhwan that occurred in 1929, and was wounded severely and shot twice on his knee during the battle. The injury forced his uncle Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, who was in the battle as well to carry him outside where he transferred to Taif and stayed one month for treatment. After Sa'ad was fully treated, His father Abdulaziz sent him again to Prince Mohammed to train more on wars until 1931 when his father decided to appoint him as deputy commander of the battle of Jizan, which ended in victory and unification of the Kingdom in 1932.

Emirate and province of Khamis Mushait

After the Battle of Jizan and the unification of the Kingdom, he was appointed by his father the governor of the province of Khamis Mushait, and was at the time at the age of eighteen. In 1935, Sa'ad worked to protect Khamis Mushayt from attacks of Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, where at the time Saudi–Yemeni War is held. Sa'ad Sent 400 men to the south-west of Khamis Mushayt, and because of the ongoing attacks by Yemeni, King Abdul Aziz supplied more arms and ammunition, and when Yemeni realized that aid to Khamis Mushayt battle turned into a big loss they decided to surrender.

Emirate of Asir

In 1941, Prince Saad was appointed ruler of the Emirate of Asir. The province under Sa'ad made integrated urban renaissance, where wells were drilled and excavated, building markets and trading. The region has also seen at the end of his reign the construction of many dams to preserve the water of rains. As a ruler of Asir, Saad developed the air defense with the help of the then defence minister Mansour bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who sent civilian and military aircraft in the 1940s and 1950s. He remained in this position until 1960 when he was appointed a deputy interior minister for security affairs. His term lasted until 1987.

Succession

Prince Saad and Prince Nasser were older than Prince Fahd when the latter was appointed crown prince in 1975. However both were regarded as weak contenders due to being relatively less experienced.

Personal life

Prince Saad was not given a significant political position due to his weak and negligible character like his half-brother Prince Bandar. His son, Mohammed bin Saad, is a former advisor of late Prince Nayef and deputy governor of Riyadh Province. His other son, Abdulaziz, is deputy governor of the Hail Region.

Marriages

Saad bin Abdulaziz remained head of council of House of Saud. He died in Jeddah on 23 July 1993. He was buried in Mecca.

Ancestry