Saudi FM’s Absence in Cairo Meeting Raises Doubts about Faisal’s Health

Sources announced on Monday that the Saudi top diplomat will not attend the quadrilateral ministerial meeting on Syria due to be held in Cairo tonight, raising doubts about Saud al-Faisal’s health which is a focus of the media these days.

The sources told al-Ajel news agency that Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts Ahmet Davutoglu and Mohamed Kamel Amr will attend the Cairo meeting, but Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal will not be there and his Deputy Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah will represent Riyadh in the quadrilateral meeting.

The initiative for forming the quadrilateral contact group on Syria was put forward by Egypt’s first post-revolution President Mohammad Mursi at a recent emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The report came after media speculations said the Saudi top diplomat might have died of a chronic disease.

But the Saudi Royal Court denied the reports and issued a statement, saying, “Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, suffered a minor blockage in the intestines because of adhesions due to a previous surgery. He underwent a minor surgery to break the adhesions. The surgery was successful. He is in stable condition, thanks to Almighty Allah.”

Also the Saudi foreign ministry announced on September 11 that Faisal is convalescing in Los Angeles.

“He is in good health and he is right now in Los Angeles where he will spend some weeks to recover before returning home,” the foreign ministry said, denying reports about his death.