{"record":{"aliases":["Ibrahim bin Abdullah Al-Suweil","Ibrahim Al Suwaiyel"],"appointmentIds":["saudi-arabia-2212eacdba0523"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":["ford-bio"],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/saudi-arabia-person-ibrahim-al-sowayel-0b710970e1/","countrySlug":"saudi-arabia","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/saudi-arabia-person-ibrahim-al-sowayel-0b710970e1/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Ibrahim al-Sowayel came to Washington after serving as Saudi foreign minister and agriculture minister. Born in Unayzah in 1916, he graduated from the Saudi Institute in Mecca and Cairo University, then pursued further study in modern Islamic history. He taught Arabic literature before joining the diplomatic service in 1945. His overseas career included an ambassadorship in Iraq. He also wrote poetry.","As ambassador from 1964 to 1975, al-Sowayel took part in negotiations over the kingdom's defense and its relationship with Washington. In October 1965 he joined Deputy Foreign Minister Omar Saqqaf in discussions with Secretary of State Dean Rusk about American aircraft, missiles, and radar, including how to finance the purchases while preserving development spending. In June 1974 he participated in Prince Fahd's Washington talks with Henry Kissinger as the two governments discussed Arab–Israeli diplomacy after the October war.","He subsequently became King Khalid's senior political adviser and died in Riyadh in 1977."],"id":"saudi-arabia:saudi-arabia-person-ibrahim-al-sowayel","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-0b710970e1faed128f31.html","name":"Ibrahim Al-Sowayel","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["ford-bio"],["embassy-roster","frus-1965","frus-1974"],["obituary"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-0b710970e1faed128f31.html","relatedEvents":[{"basis":"tenure-overlap","country":"Saudi Arabia","date":"1973–1974","description":"Saudi Arabia joins an Arab oil embargo against the United States during the 1973 Arab–Israeli war. Supply restrictions and rising prices carry the dispute into the wider world economy.","id":"saudi-embargo-1973","note":"Named people and the recorded mission tenure provide the connection; overlap does not establish personal participation.","sourceUrls":["https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/oil-embargo"],"title":"Oil supplies become diplomatic pressure","url":"Saudi-Arabia.html#history-saudi-embargo-1973"},{"basis":"tenure-overlap","country":"Saudi Arabia","date":"1974-06-08","description":"During Prince Fahd's Washington visit, the two governments announce a Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation. Four subcommissions extend cooperation into fields including education, manpower, and economic development.","id":"saudi-arabia-joint-commission-1974","note":"Named people and the recorded mission tenure provide the connection; overlap does not establish personal participation.","sourceUrls":["https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v38p2/d98","https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve09p2/d110"],"title":"A broader economic partnership","url":"Saudi-Arabia.html#history-saudi-arabia-joint-commission-1974"}],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-28","revision":"bac131e883dd2b67","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"ford-bio","locator":"PDF page 20, H.E. Ibrahim Al-Sowayel","publisher":"Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library","title":"Ambassadors and their Wives, Biographies (3)","type":"archive","url":"https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0018/81556591.pdf"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"embassy-roster","locator":"Ibrahim Al-Sowayel, 1964–1975","publisher":"Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington","title":"Former Ambassadors","type":"official-biography","url":"https://us.saudiembassy.sa/en/Embassy/Pages/FormerAmbassadors.aspx"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1965-10-19","id":"frus-1965","locator":"FRUS 1964–1968, XXI, document 254","publisher":"U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian","title":"Memorandum of Conversation: Saudi Arms Purchase","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v21/d254"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1974-06-05","id":"frus-1974","locator":"FRUS 1969–1976, E–9 part 2, document 109","publisher":"U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian","title":"Call by the Secretary of State on Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve09p2/d109"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1977-05-27","id":"obituary","locator":"Opening and final career paragraph","publisher":"The Washington Post","title":"Ibrahim Al-Sowayel Dies, Ex-Saudi Envoy Here","type":"contemporary-report","url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/05/27/ibrahim-alsowayel-dies-exsaudi-envoy-here/513d465d-d1c5-45e2-a94b-343b8a248165/"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"1974-06-06","id":"mission-ec6070865adba5aaf6a0","locator":"Ibrahim Al-Sowayel was present at Oval Office talks with Nixon, Kissinger and Prince Fahd on expanded bilateral cooperation.","publisher":"","title":"Nixon–Fahd meeting, 6 June 1974","type":"Mission record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve09p2/d110"}],"topics":["military assistance","Arab–Israeli diplomacy","poetry"]},"schemaVersion":1}