He was influential in the highest circles of power globally, master of intrigue, trusted by his King yet his name figured in dubious arms deals. He was phenomenally rich and travelled in a 75 million dollar Boeing 737 gifted to him by the BAe as part payback for the forty billion dollar Al Yamamah arms deal with the BAe in 1985. He was his country’s Ambassador in the US from 1983 to 2005. After that, he maintained a low profile till the onset of the Arab Spring in 2011. Gifted in arranging covert deals it is suspected that he was involved in negotiating the purchase of nuclear missiles from Pakistan. Meet Bandar Bush aka Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud. The famous photo that showed his closeness to George H Bush with a jeans clad Bandar seated on the arm of a sofa chatting to the President says it all. It was Bandar who had helped convince Reagan to aid the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviets in the 1980s.

Close ties: Condoleezza Rice talks with Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud, as former US President George W Bush embraces present Saudi King Abdullah at his Texas ranch in 2005. File Pic