'Bandar Bush' dead?

"Bandar Bush" was long time Saudi ambassador in Washington and associated both with the Bush family and their business interests and with the bin-Laden family. See House of Bush, House of Saud by Craid Unger.

Prince Bandar Bin Sultan: Is The Saudi Spy Chief Dead Or Alive?

IB Times,

31 July, 2012

Unconfirmed reports are emerging from the Middle East and Europe that Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been assassinated.

The Voltaire Network of Paris reported that Bandar was killed in a bomb attack on July 26. He was apparently murdered by Syrian operatives in retaliation for his alleged role in the July 18 bombing in Damascus which killed four of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle, including Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha and his deputy Assef Shawkat.

However, neither Saudi nor Syrian sources have confirmed the alleged assassination.

The Prince was a familiar figure in the U.S. since he served as Saudi ambassador to the US from 1983 until 2005. He was appointed Saudi intelligence chief earlier this month, reportedly a reward for having orchestrated the Damascus attack.

Syria reportedly eliminated Bandar bin Sultan in retaliation for Damascus bombing

Though not yet announced by the Saudi authorities, the death of Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been confirmed to Voltaire Network by unofficial sources.

by Voltaire Network   July 30, 2012

Prince Bandar had just been appointed head of Saudi intelligence on July 24: a promotion which was interpreted as a reward for having organized the attack in Damascus on July 18. The Saudi services, with logistical support from the CIA, had managed to blow up the headquarters of the Syrian National Security during a Crisis Cell meeting: Generals Assef Chaoukat, Daoud Rajha and Hassan Tourkmani were killed instantly. General Amin Hicham Ikhtiar died soon after from his wounds. This operation, called "Damascus Volcano" was the signal for the attack on the capital by a swarm of mercenaries, mainly coming from Jordan.

Prince Bandar was himself the target of a bomb attack on July 26, and subsequently succumbed to his injuries.

A brilliant and cynical personality, Prince Bandar was 63 years old. He was the son of Prince Sultan (irremovable defense minister from 1963 until his death in 2011) and of a slave. Confidant of King Fahd, Bandar was ambassador to Washington throughout his reign (1983-2005). He became close to George H. Bush (then Vice-President of the United States), who regarded him as an "adopted son," prompting the U.S. press to dub him "Bandar Bush". Endowed with an outstanding genius for covert action, he brokered the Al-Yamamah arms deal, managing to divert more than one billion pounds, according to British official sources. He then used this windfall, and many more, to finance the activities of jihadist groups around the world, including Al Qaeda.

In early 2010, Prince Bandar attempted to overthrow King Abdullah to place his own father on the throne. The plot failed and he was banished from the kingdom, but the monarch’s declining health enabled him to return to Saudi Arabia a year later. Since the death of Prince Sultan in October 2011, he had become the de facto leader of the Sudairi clan, the hawkish wing within the royal family.

His death constitutes a serious blow to the whole system of Western covert action in the Muslim world. It took Syria only one week to mount this spectacular reprisal operation.