Rational Grounds

Things might be better if Saudi Arabia were some romantic kingdom ruled by a wise, benevolent king and a royal family with a sense of noblesse oblige. But it isn't. Starting at the top, King Fahd is close to brain-dead, incapacitated by a [October 29th] 1995 stroke. This became clear late that year when Fahd shit in his pool during physical therapy, in front of his family. Crown Prince 'Abdallah supposedly fills in for Fahd, his half brother, but he has no real power. He is mistrusted and despised by the senior princes - the cabinet ministers - and his authority is checked at every opportunity.

Fahd's favorite wife, Jawhara al-Ibrahim, and her spoiled, megalomanic son 'Abd-al-'Aziz - Azouzi, or "deary," as Fahd calls him - actually run Saudi Arabia. Jawhara alone has twenty-four-hour-a-day access to Fahd. She decides who will see him and who won't, which decrees he will see and which he won't. For all practical purposes, she sets the general course of Saudi internal and external policy. For all we know, she states how much oil will be pumped or completely cut off. (p.23)

So Jawhara, with the reins of power in hand, is one possible actor here. More likely is Prince Saud al-Faisal bin 'Abdul 'Aziz, Minister of Foreign Affairs and ostensibly the person in charge of who is ambassador. He is closely allied with Crown Prince 'Abdallah. Turki, the man replacing Bandar as ambassador, is 'Abdallah's nephew and Saud's brother.

'Abdallah, as we are endlessly reminded, is the one truly reform-minded Saudi prince. He is not loved for it:

'Abdallah had always been the odd prince out. For a start, his mother was from the Shammar tribe, traditional rivals of the Al Sa'ud. ... Almost alone in the top tier of the royal family, 'Abdallah had consciously chosen the way of the desert, turning his back on the palatial luxuries of Riyadh, Jeddah, and Ta'if.

[...]

The Al Sa'ud hated being reminded that they had abandoned their Bedouin roots, but what they hated still more was that 'Abdallah wanted to cut back royal corruption and perks. 'Abdallah had made no secret that when he became king, he would put an end to their thieving. (Baer,p.171)

[...]

[after Fahd's stroke] It wasn't as if the rest of the Fahd clan was united. Sultan, Salman, and Na'if might have arrived at the hospital in a great show of solidarity - or to make sure none of the others got there first - but they were in for a rude shock once they pushed through the front doors. Jawhara and Azouzi had set up camp outside of Fahd's hospital room, deciding who would get in and who wouldn't. That included ministers, senior princes, doctors, petitions, decrees, and everything else. In other words, there had been a de facto coup d'etat.

Fahd's brothers were furious, but there was nothing they could do. It wasn't as if they could arrest Jawhara and her son. The other choice, making 'Abdallah regent, was unthinkable. Their only consolation was that Jawhara and Azouzi were more or less on their side. ... They needed to make sure Fahd outlived 'Abdallah so Sultan could assume the throne and the Sudayri would be back in power. (Baer, p.177)

Is this ambassadorial change-up a move against Jawhara and the Sudayri by 'Abdallah? Looks like:

By late September 1996 'Abdallah was so alarmed about the kingdom's financial solvency that he tried to send a message to the Clinton administration. 'Abdallah couldn't get the American embassy in Riyadh to listen; its sole msision seemed to be getting the Saudis to pay their bills on time. Nor did 'Abdallah trust Prince Bandar as a conduit to the White House because at the end of the day, the ambassador was loyal to his father, Sultan. (Baer,p.183)

(For some of this information from the source, see the Fall of the House of Saud, by Robert Baer.)

As I said above, I don't know why this happened. But who did it isn't quite as much of a mystery.