Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: نايف بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, Nāyif ibn ‘Abd al ‘Azīz Āl Su‘ūd; 1934 – 16 June 2012) was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and deputy prime minister from October 2011 and the minister of interior from October 1975 until his death in June 2012.
[9][10] In March 1980 King Khalid established a constitutional committee with eight members under the presidency of Prince Nayef.
[10] In December 1994, he ordered hundreds of terrorism-related arrests with the support of Prince Turki, head of Saudi intelligence services.
[10] In April 2001, he, not foreign minister Saud bin Faisal, went to Iran as Saudi envoy in an unprecedented move.
[16] Between 2003 and 2006 Prince Nayef led Saudi Arabia's confrontation against Al Qaeda, which sponsored a series of domestic attacks on expatriate housing compounds, oil infrastructure, and industrial facilities.
[17] In March 2011 during the 2011 Saudi Arabian protests 200 people who called for more information on their imprisoned relatives were denied a meeting with Nayef.
[18] Since Crown Prince Sultan could not deal with demanding duties due to his extended absences for medical treatment and King Abdullah was about to travel to Doha to attend the League of Arab States Summit before going to London for the G20 summit, it was imperative to leave a senior official in charge, which added burdens to the leukemia-suffering 76-year-old Nayef.
[24] Shortly thereafter he vowed that Saudi Arabia would "never sway from and never compromise on" its adherence to Wahhabi doctrine which he stated was "the source of the kingdom's pride, success and progress.
"[25] During his time as crown prince, Nayef brought about modernizations such as "removing religious authorities who objected to the mingling of men and women in public spaces.
In 2003 he "threatened to cancel certain business deals with the French government" if the narcotics investigation of Nayef bin Fawwaz Al Sha'lan continued.
[27] When meeting with US diplomats in 2009 Prince Nayef voiced support for aggressive activity against Iran after what he believed was a breach of the 2001 security agreement.
[2] Prince Nayef served for a time as the supervisor general of the Saudi committee for the Al Quds intifada, which provided aid to Palestinian refugees.
[29][30] In November 2002 Prince Nayef said, "It is impossible that 19 youths carried out the operation of September 11, or that bin Laden or al Qaeda did that alone.
[32] According to leaked cables, Prince Nayef argued for a tougher approach than King Abdullah towards the then Yemeni president Saleh in 2009.
[32] After visiting Cleveland for planned health-tests in March 2012, Prince Nayef addressed the controversy over the participation of Saudi women athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from his residence in Algeria.
Al Hayat reported that for him women can represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics as long as they do not break Islamic laws.
"[35] He further added that Saudi women taking part on their own are free to do so, and the Kingdom's Olympic authority would "help in ensuring that their participation does not violate the Islamic shari'a law.
[35] Prince Nayef, before being appointed second deputy prime minister in 2009, was generally described as elusive, ambiguous, pragmatic, unimaginative, shrewd, and outspoken.
[46] In the early 1960s Prince Nayef lived in Loxwood House in the north London suburb of Totteridge.
[47] He donated £1,000 (equivalent to £25,597 in 2023) to his local member for parliament, Margaret Thatcher, when she was canvassing during the 1964 United Kingdom general election.
[52][53] On 16 June 2012 at about 1 pm (UTC+3), Saudi state television reported that Crown Prince Nayef had died.
[55] A medical source in Geneva said that Nayef died of "cardiac problems" while staying at his brother's residence there.