Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi
In last week’s column, I wrote about my longtime association with Abdullatif Al-Maimani, who passed away in Jeddah on Oct. 7 after a successful decades-long career as a diplomat, writer and journalist. His demise is an irreparable loss not only for the Saudi diplomatic corps but also for me personally as a colleague and close friend.
In this article, I would like to shed light on my close association with Al-Maimani as my colleague and immediate boss in the economic division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jeddah. I joined the division after spending a short period of time in Yemen after having had some disagreement with the Saudi ambassador there who was a diplomat with a military background.
I felt at home at the economic division of the ministry, supervised by Al-Maimani. It was among the best sections to work in at the ministry and hence many staffers desired a posting in that division. I was transferred to this division following a directive by Al-Maimani.
The economic division was set up following the appointment of the late Prince Saud Al-Faisal as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Prince Saud assumed office after the death of King Faisal, his father. Prince Saud gave special consideration to the division and appointed Sheikh Abdullah Muhammad Ali Rida as undersecretary for economic affairs at the ministry.
Being a dynamic figure, who energized the economic division, Al-Maimani could rightly be called the real founder of this division. His organizational ability was superb. He had the proficiency and talent to present ideas in a powerful, convincing and attractive style and manner. His personal characteristics included strength of character, self-confidence, a great deal of humility, a sense of humor and coolness.
Although Al-Maimani was the boss, he treated me as a peer with confidence in me. This prompted my colleagues to feel envious on certain occasions. He sent me on many domestic and foreign missions, on some of which I accompanied him while on other occasions, I was entrusted with the mission and traveled alone.
We went together to attend the preparatory meeting of the Muslim Foreign Ministers’ Conference held in Libya. During that time, Libya was passing through a difficult period under the rule of Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Life there was almost at a standstill. Saudi –Libyan relations were at a very low ebb which created a lot of difficulties for us during that trip. But Al-Maimani, who headed the Saudi delegation, managed the situation well with his wisdom and elegant diplomatic style.
We also went to Niger as members of the Saudi delegation attending the conference of the OIC foreign ministers. We were present at the Islamic Summit Conference held in Taif. The talks of the economic committee continued into the wee hours during the Summit. Al-Maimani was in the chair at some of the sessions associated with economic matters.
We also attended together the conferences of Saudi ambassadors held in Washington, Taif and Jeddah. When Al-Maimani was asked to speak on economic topics, he used to dazzle the audience with his eloquent style, powerful language and vast knowledge. I had the opportunity to accompany him to several sessions at the United Nations. The most significant among them was the meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council.
The topics debated in these meetings included the mistreatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces. In a UN meeting, Al-Maimani delivered a strong speech in which he denounced the Israeli invasion of Palestine and exposed the brutal atrocities being perpetrated by the occupation forces against unarmed civilians. This infuriated the Israeli envoy and representatives of some Western countries, including the US ambassador, who, with their partiality toward Israel, turned a blind eye to Israel’s invasion of Palestine and its crimes against the Palestinian people.
Al-Maimani was respected by Prince Saud Al-Faisal who always instructed that his name be included among the members of the delegations that accompanied him during his foreign trips. However, later Al-Maimani had some misunderstanding with Sheikh Abdullah Muhammad Ali Rida, and that prompted him to accept the offer of Iyad Madani, director general of Okaz Organization for Press and Publication, to take over the post of editor-in-chief of Saudi Gazette newspaper. Al-Maimani neither waited for the consent nor sought permission of anyone, but directly moved to take up the new assignment at the helm of the newspaper.
He asked me to visit him at his new office. When I went to meet him, he offered me the post of managing editor but I politely declined the offer saying that I prefered to continue to work with the Foreign Ministry. Then he said: “Well, as you like. But join us in the evening for some part time work.” I readily agreed and worked with him for a few months in the evening. I chose relevant stories for publication and attended several evening literary and cultural programs and prepared reports for the local pages.
Accompanied by a photographer and an editor, we embarked on a two-day journalistic trip to Al-Baha region. The newspaper carried a number of stories based on this trip. However, I discontinued this work due to my workload at the ministry in addition to my preoccupation with official missions outside the Kingdom.
Next week, I will share with readers my experience at the Saudi embassy in Dhaka while working under Al-Maimani when he was the ambassador to Bangladesh.
Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com
