(8. Oktober 2013) Bandar, Abdullah‘s nephew, was ambassador to the United States for 22 years (1983-2005).

He‘s a master of Middle Eastern intrigue and played a key role in several covert operations with the Americans, including arming Islamist mujahedin against the invading Soviets in Afghanistan throughout the 1980s.

On July 31, Bandar flew secretly to Moscow for closed-door talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad‘s ally, at his suburban home in hopes of persuading him to back off keeping the Syrian dictator in power.

Bandar reportedly offered to buy Russian arms worth $15 billion and not to oppose Russia‘s natural gas deals, but apparently to no avail.