36 Facts About Kamal Adham

Kamal Adham was a Saudi businessman and the director general of Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah from 1965 to 1979.

Kamal Adham served as a royal counsellor to both King Faisal and King Khalid.

Kamal Adham's father, Ibrahim Adham, was a police officer of Albanian origin.

Kamal Adham went to Jeddah with his father when he was one year old.

Kamal Adham was raised by King Faisal, spouse of his sister Iffat.

Kamal Adham studied at Victoria College in Alexandria and then at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Kamal Adham joined the Saudi government as the chief of external intelligence agency in 1964.

Kamal Adham's tenure lasted for fourteen years until 19 January 1979 when he was dismissed and replaced by Turki bin Faisal in the post.

Kamal Adham served as royal counsellor to King Faisal and then, to King Khalid.

Kamal Adham was among the close advisors to King Khalid from 1975 to 19 January 1979.

Kamal Adham was very crucial in improving Saudi Arabia's relations with the United Kingdom which had become tense after the Buraimi oasis affair in 1955.

Kamal Adham had significant effects in maintaining the relations with Egypt.

Kamal Adham was sent by King Faisal to meet Sadat in May 1971, shortly after he was sworn in as president.

Kamal Adham tried to persuade him to cooperate with the US.

Kamal Adham assured that Adham could transmit his message to the US administration.

Kamal Adham told his associates in 1972 that the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, would be removed.

Kamal Adham's prediction was not taken into consideration or shared by advisors of the US president Nixon.

Kamal Adham acted as a liaison between the GIP, which reported to the king, and the US administration.

Kamal Adham fostered and maintained nascent ties with several Arab intelligence services, as many were slowly creating independent institutions to serve their respective governments.

Kamal Adham signed the charter of the Safari Club, an anti-communist foreign policy initiative on behalf of Saudi Arabia that was proposed and realized by French intelligence chief Alexandre de Marenches in 1976.

Kamal Adham became a significant figure in the Club and worked for it for a long time.

Kamal Adham had business activities, for which he used his connections with the House of Saud.

Kamal Adham founded the Kamal Adham Group in Saudi Arabia, which became one of the biggest companies in the country.

Kamal Adham was one of the major shareholders of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

Kamal Adham was one of the early shareholders of the influential media company, Saudi Research and Marketing.

Kamal Adham became a business associate of Anwar Sadat's spouse, Jihan Sadat, and other members of the Sadat family.

In 1978, Kamal Adham founded a construction company, Freyssinet, in Saudi Arabia.

Kamal Adham involved in the huge BCCI scandal at the beginning of the 1990s.

Kamal Adham and Sayed Al Jawhary agreed to pay a staggering amount of $105 million fine in return for a reduced sentence.

Kamal Adham wed in 1957 and fathered four children, three sons and a daughter.

One of Kamal Adham's mansions was in Marbella where other senior Saudi and Gulf royals have owned properties.

Kamal Adham died of a heart attack in Cairo on 29 October 1999.

Kamal Adham's body was brought back to Saudi Arabia for burial.

Kamal Adham was fluent in four languages, namely Arabic, Turkish, English, and French.

Kamal Adham was awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1967 when he was part of King Faisal's entourage in his state visit to the United Kingdom.

The center was financially supported by Kamal Adham who was a member of Board of Trustees of the University.