Faisal bin Musaid

Faisal bin Musaid Full Name: Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud Origin: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Occupation: Saudi prince Goals: Kill King Faisal (successful) Crimes: Murder Terrorism Drug trafficking Persecution of Christians Type of Villain: Regicide familiar

Faisal bin Musaid (April 4^th, 1944 - June 18^th, 1975) was the nephew and assassin of Faisal of Saudi Arabia.

Early life

Faisal was born in 1944. His father was Prince Musa'id, the paternal half brother to six Saudi Arabian kings including King Faisal; his mother was Watfa, a daughter of Muhammad bin Talal, the 12th (and last) Rashidi Emir. His parents divorced. He and his brothers and sisters were much closer to their maternal Rashidi relatives than their paternal members of the House of Saud.

In 1965, his older brother Khaled, a Wahhabist, was killed during an assault on a new television station in Riyadh. Wahhabi clerics opposed the establishment of a national television service, as they believed it immoral to produce images of humans. The details of his death are disputed. Some reports allege that he actually died resisting arrest outside his own home. No investigation over his death was ever initiated. Faisal had another brother, Bandar, and a sister, Al Jawhara. Abdul Rahman bin Musaid is his half-brother.

Education

In 1966 Faisal bin Musaid went to the United States to study English in San Francisco State College. Then he entered to the University of California at Berkeley and to the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1971 he received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The assassination

On March 25^th, 1975 he went to the Royal Palace in Riyadh, where King Faisal was holding a majlis. He joined a Kuwaiti delegation and lined up to meet the king. The king recognized his nephew and bent his head forward so that the younger Faisal could kiss the king's head in a sign of respect. The prince took out a revolver from his robe and shot the King twice in the head. His third shot missed and he threw the gun away. King Faisal fell to the floor. Bodyguards with swords and submachine guns arrested the prince. The king was quickly rushed to a hospital but doctors failed to save him. Before dying, King Faisal ordered that the assassin, not to be executed. Saudi television crews captured the entire assassination on camera.

Imprisonment and execution

Initial reports described Faisal bin Musaid as "mentally deranged." He was moved to a Riyadh prison. He was deemed sane to be tried. He was found guilty of murder. Hours after the verdict, he was publicly decapitated in Riyadh. After execution the crowd broke into chants of “God is great!” and “Justice is done!”

References

• Al Rasheed, Madawi (1991). Politics in an Arabian Oasis. The Rashidis of Saudi Arabia. New York: I. B. Tauirs & Co. Ltd.
• Biography of Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Historystack
• Faisal's Killer Is Put to Death. The New York Times. June 19, 1975