King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz

King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

King Fahd: Major Events

1923: Born, son of King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud), founder of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1945: Member of the Saudi delegation to the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco

1953: Appointed first Minister of Education

1959: Led the Saudi delegation to the 32nd session of the League of Arab States in Casablanca, Morocco

1960: Led the Saudi delegation to the 33rd session of the League of Arab States in Lebanon

1962: Appointed Minister of the Interior

1965: Represented Saudi Arabia at the Cairo meeting of Arab heads of state

1967: Assumed position of Second Deputy Prime Minister

1970: Led Saudi delegation in talks with British leaders to discuss future of the Arabian Gulf

1970: Witnessed the launching of the Kingdom’s first Five-Year Development Plan

1974: First official visit to Washington D.C. established Saudi Arabian/U.S. Joint Commission on Economic Co-operation

1975: Became Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister

1978: Led Saudi delegation to the Arab Summit in Baghdad

1981: Proposed innovative Eight-Point Peace Plan to resolve the Arab/Israeli conflict

1981: Represented the Kingdom at the North/South Conference in Cancun, Mexico

1982: Proclaimed fifth King of Saudi Arabia on 13th June, succeeding King Khalid

1982: League of Arab States unanimously adopted King Fahd’s Eight-Point Peace Plan to resolve the Arab/Israeli conflict

1985: Announced the Kingdom’s fourth Five-Year Plan

1986: Inaugurated the King Fahd Causeway, linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain

1987: Hosted the eighth summit of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in Riyadh

1987: Made state visits to Britain and France

1988: Signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

1988: Initiated diplomatic efforts to end the Iraq/Iran war

1988: Attended the extraordinary meeting of the League of Arab States summit in Algeria

1989: Hosted Lebanese leaders in Taif, Saudi Arabia, for the signing of the national reconciliation accord

1989: State visit to Egypt

1989: Attended League of Arab States summit in Morocco

1990: Signed border demarcation accord with Oman

1990: Sent more than one million copies of the Holy Qur’an, the first shipment of the Holy Book to the Soviet Union, for distribution amongst Muslims

1990: Condemned Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and helped to put together a coalition of forces to end the aggression

1992: Sent Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal to attend Moscow Middle East peace talks

1992: Announced new regulations for the Basic System of Government, the Provincial System and the Majlis Al Shoura (Consultative Council)

1992: Condemned Serbian aggression in Bosnia/Herzegovina; met with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovitch; called for international action to halt the aggression; directed the effort to end the fighting and to ease the suffering of civilians; hosted the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on Bosnia/Herzegovina

1993: Hosted meeting of Afghan leaders in the Holy city of Makkah for signing of national reconciliation accord

1993: Sent Saudi forces to serve in United Nations’ peace-keeping contingent in Somalia

1993: Inaugurated the Majlis Al Shoura (Consultative Council)

1993: Introduced new regulations for the Council of Ministers

1993: Hosted 14th GCC Summit in Riyadh

1993: donated US$100 million for social services and utility projects in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

1993: Approved a new Higher Education Council and universities system

1994: Completed expansion projects of Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah

1994: Called for resolution of Yemen crisis through dialogue

1994: Donated funds for the restoration of Islam’s third holiest shrine and two other mosques in Jerusalem

1995: Announced sixth Five-Year Development Plan

1996: Assigned Crown Prince Abdullah to the Saudi/Syrian/Egyptian meeting in Damascus and the Arab Summit in Cairo

King Fahd died on 1st August, 2005. He was succeeded by Crown Prince Abdullah.