Saudi Gazette report

MANY young Saudis may not have heard of the veteran diplomat Mohammed Hamad Al-Shubaili who had served as Saudi Arabia's ambassador in five countries for 60 years. Most of them may not be aware of the Kingdom’s first ambassador to the United Kingdom or have seen the picture of the country's first state minister for foreign affairs.

However, visitors of the Foreign Ministry’s websites on social media platforms have been given an opportunity to see the Kingdom's leading ambassadors and learn about their outstanding contributions to the nation.

The ministry launched its website titled “Diplomatic Personalities” through Twitter and Instagram, highlighting major contributions of leading ambassadors of the Kingdom. The move was aimed at strengthening the Kingdom’s relations with foreign countries. The ministry related successful stories of 30 outstanding ambassadors who protected Saudi interests in various countries since the time of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.

Hafiz Wahba, who was an adviser to King Abdul Aziz, was appointed Saudi Arabia's first ambassador to the UK in 1930 and remained in the post until 1956.

Wahba studied law at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He worked as a journalist before traveling from Cairo to British India in 1914. He worked in the pearl trade until 1920 when King Abdul Aziz appointed him as governor. He served in the department of education from 1927 to 1929. In 1938, Wahba traveled to Tokyo to attend the opening of a mosque, initiating diplomatic contacts between Japan and Saudi Arabia. The following year the Japanese ambassador in Cairo visited Saudi Arabia and met with King Abdul Aziz.

Wahba was the author of "The Arabian Peninsula" and he wrote the preface to Lady Evelyn Cobbold's "Pilgrimage to Mecca".

"If only Great Britain, America, and all the other nations would quit interfering and stirring up all this emotional feeling in favor of more and more Jews going to Palestine until they drive our people out, we would have no troubles at all in Palestine," Wahba, the man in charge of Palestine relations for the Saudi government, had told Herbert W. Armstrong, editor in chief of the Plain Truth magazine, in a 1947 interview in London.

Yousuf Mohammed Yaseen, another adviser to the king and chief editor of the official gazette Umm Al-Qura, was head of the political wing at the Royal Court.

Ambassador Al-Shubaili represented the Kingdom in Pakistan, India, Iraq, Afghanistan and Malaysia. Omar Al-Saqqaf, on the other hand, was the Kingdom’s first state minister for foreign affairs. He had also served as ambassador to Britain, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Abdul Rahman Saleh Al-Hulaisi had served in five countries – Sudan, Italy, Austria, Britain and Denmark, the website said.

Mohammed Al-Shuwaihi served in the diplomatic corps for 35 years. He was appointed ambassador to Korea in 1987 and later worked as a senior diplomat in Washington, Bangkok, Seoul and New York.

Mohammed Al-Murshid Al-Zoghaibi was known as the man of big missions. He was appointed ambassador to Egypt in 1961 before becoming the communications minister.

Prince Bandar Bin Sultan began his diplomatic career as military attaché in the US before becoming the Kingdom’s ambassador in Washington in 1983. He took part in the talks that led to the signing of military deals with the United States for the purchase F15 fighter jets and the flying radars known as AWACS.

Prince Bandar was a member of the Saudi delegation to the 39th and 55th UN General Assembly sessions. He won King Abdul Aziz Sash and the Falcon Medal for his efforts to solve the Lockerbie issue between Libya, the UK and US, according to the ministry's website.