Khalid bin Talal Al Saud (Arabic: خالد بن طلال بن عبد العزيز آل سعود; born 10 January 1962) is a member of the Saudi royal family, one of the grandsons of Saudi's founder King Abdulaziz, and the owner of Al Nafood Trading Establishment.[1]
The prisoner-exchange agreement signed between Israel and Hamas in October 2011 that arranged for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and over 1,000 mainly Palestinian and Arab-Israeli prisoners was received with disapproval by some members of the Israeli public. Subsequent to this exchange, according to comments made by Saudi cleric Awad Al-Qarni and reiterated by Prince Khalid, one Israeli family offered $100,000 for the capture of a Palestinian man released under the deal who they believed was responsible for the 1998 death of one of their relatives.[4] As of late October 2011, news agencies were reporting at least two such $100,000 bounties on-offer by Israeli extremist groups for the killing of Palestinians who were released in the exchange and who they believe to have been responsible for the killing of Israelis.[5]
Controversy
As part of conservative wing in Saudi royal family, Khalid said he had been forced to speak out after quiet efforts to advise his brother to mend his ways had fallen on deaf ears. Khalid, told an Arabic website that his brother's plan to introduce cinema into Saudi society was the straw that broke the camel's back. This was a reference to a Saudi film financed by Al Waleed bin Talal, and shown in Saudi Arabia in 2011 despite fierce opposition from Islamist activists.[6]
On 29 October 2011, Prince Khalid stated that he would give $900,000 for the capture of any Israeli soldier for use as bargaining leverage in potential future negotiations with Israel for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, variously estimated in late October 2011 as between 5,000 and 7,000 persons. Details provided about his announcement varied considerably among the many media outlets that covered it, with some apparent contradictions among them, and with some reports excluding any mention of the previous bounty offers made by Israeli groups that the Prince said prompted his offer.[7][8]
In what he described as a response to the $100,000 bounty offered by the Israeli family as described above, Saudi cleric Awad Al-Qarni offered his own bounty in the same $100,000 amount for the capture of any Israeli soldier, with the understanding that any soldier so captured would be used in a potential subsequent prisoner exchange to try to secure the release of some of the thousands of Palestinians who remain in Israeli prisons.[9] Awad Al-Qarni's offer of one hundred thousand dollars for the capture of an Israeli soldier was met with a counter-offer of one million dollars for the killing of the Muslim cleric. "Dr Awad al-Qarni said he was offering $100,000 to only take a prisoner but they responded by offering $1 million to kill Awad al-Qarni," Prince Khalid stated according to a recording of a telephone call he placed to a private Saudi television network, and that was published by that network on its website.[10]
In what he said was a response to the $1 million bounty offered by Israelis for the killing of Saudi cleric Awad Al-Qarni, Prince Khalid increased the cleric's offer of $100,000 for the capture of an Israeli soldier by $900,000, thus bringing the combined amount offered by the two men up to the same $1 million figure offered for the cleric's death. The Prince made the announcement in a 29 October 2011 telephone call to the Saudi kingdom's private al-Daleel television station.[11][12]
In 1988, Prince Khalid married Jazzi bint Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh.[citation needed]
Khalid's son, Al Waleed bin Khalid bin Talal Al Saud, met with a traffic accident in Riyadh which caused him to fall into a coma. He was kept at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. However, it was reported that he was moved back home in early 2016, after a decade in the hospital as a "brain dead" patient.[2] In October 2020, he reportedly responded with a movement of his hand to his aunt. After that till the present time, no improvement has been reported.
^Saudi prince backs cleric's bounty offer for Israeli soldierArchived 4 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine 29 October 2011, Reuters. Excerpt: ( Saudi cleric Awad Al-Qarni ) said on his Facebook page this week that he made the offer in response to a similar reward promised by an Israeli family for anyone who catches the person who killed one of its members in 1998, following a prisoner exchange agreement earlier this month of more than 1,000 Palestinians for the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
^Saudi royal offers bounty on Israeli soldiers 30 October 2011, Associated Press, via CBS News. Excerpt: In Israel, extremists have offered two rewards of $100,000 to anyone who kills a Palestinian released in the Shalit deal if the Palestinian killed Israelis... Extremist settler activist Baruch Marzel said he was familiar with the bounties and that there were a number of bereaved Israeli families who were looking to "settle the score" with the killers.
^Montrealers celebrate release of Israeli soldierArchived 5 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. CTV News, 19 October 2011. Excerpt: As Schalit was welcomed home tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank were also celebrating the release of their prisoners. Many are hoping Israel will make similar deals in the future, since more than 6,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons.
^Ukrainian mother of two among released Palestinian prisonersArchived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. RIA Novosti, 19 October 2011. Excerpt: There were about 8,200 Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails before the (October 2011) prisoner swap, including 62 women and over 200 children, according to Palestinian estimates.
^Saudi prince backs cleric's bounty offer for Israeli soldierArchived 4 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine. 29 October 2011, Reuters. Excerpt: Qarni said on his Facebook page this week that he made the offer in response to a similar reward promised by an Israeli family for anyone who catches the person who killed one of its members in 1998, following a prisoner exchange agreement earlier this month of more than 1,000 Palestinians for the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
^Saudi prince backs cleric's bounty offer for Israeli soldierArchived 4 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine 29 October 2011, Reuters. Excerpt: Prince Khalid bin Talal ... told Daleel television over the phone that he decided to contribute to Awad al-Qarni's bounty after the Saudi cleric received death threats for offering $100,000 to capture an Israeli soldier. "Dr Awad al-Qarni said he was offering $100,000 to only take a prisoner but they responded by offering $1 million to kill Awad al-Qarni," Prince Khalid said, according to a recording of the call published on Daleel's website. "I tell Dr. Awad al-Qarni, 'I will be in solidarity with you and pay the remaining $900,000 to take an Israeli soldier prisoner so that other prisoners can be freed,'" he added. Qarni said on his Facebook page this week that he made the offer in response to a similar reward promised by an Israeli family for anyone who catches the person who killed one of its members in 1998, following a prisoner exchange agreement earlier this month of more than 1,000 Palestinians for the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
^Saudi royal offers bounty on Israeli soldiers 30 October 2011, Associated Press, via CBS News. Excerpt: Prince Khalid said he made the offer in response to what he said were Israeli threats against Qarani's life.
