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Prince Bandar: New Saudi Spy Chief
(Daily Beast) Bruce Riedel - Saudi King Abdullah has put Prince Bandar bin Sultan in charge of Saudi Arabia's foreign intelligence service. Bandar served as Saudi ambassador to Washington for years. Twice in the last two years, the Saudis foiled al-Qaeda plots to attack American cities. Bandar's most urgent task will be Syria. The Saudis want Assad gone sooner, not later, and Bandar will get the rebels more arms. It's deeply ironic since Bandar played an important role in helping Bashar consolidate power when his father Hafez died in 2000. Bandar pressed Syria's generals then to accept the young man as tough enough for the job. Now he must be Bashar's undoing. The writer is a senior fellow in the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution.