Assad Al-Faqih

Assad al-Faqih helped establish Saudi Arabia's permanent diplomatic presence in the United States after the Second World War. He studied law at Saint Joseph University in Lebanon and entered Saudi service before working in Baghdad. He joined the Foreign Ministry in November 1933 and was later promoted to minister in Iraq. He joined Prince Faisal's delegation to the conference that founded the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. ^{2, 1}

Al-Faqih was serving as minister by 8 February 1946. He presented ambassadorial credentials to Truman on 4 March 1949. He also represented Saudi Arabia at the United Nations: Prince Faisal notified the secretary-general of his permanent appointment in July 1948. In January 1947 he and Ali Alireza, who would later head the same embassy, accompanied Crown Prince Saud on his visit to President Harry Truman. ^{1, 3, 4, 5, 6}

After Washington, al-Faqih inspected Saudi missions as a roving ambassador and became minister of state for foreign affairs in 1960. He retired to Lebanon and died in California in April 1989. His home library contained more than 5,000 volumes. ²