Saudis ask Ambassador Jordon to leave

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=536&e=7&u=/ap/20030926/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_us_ambassador_1

The U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a Texas oil attorney who has served through a politically sensitive time in the two countries' relations, will leave his high-profile post in a few weeks, American and Saudi officials said Friday.

They disputed reports the Saudis had asked Ambassador Robert W. Jordan to leave.

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No replacement has been nominated, said a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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The American ambassador became embroiled in a public flap this summer when an Arabic language newspaper in London published what it said were remarks he made at a dinner party, expressing an opinion about the Saudi royal family's line of succession. The newspaper, al-Quds al-Arabi, quoted Jordan on July 9 as saying that the United States wanted the kingdom's current crown prince and de facto ruler, Abdullah, to become the next king and a member of the kingdom's younger generation of princes — grandsons of Saudi Arabia's founder, Abdul Aziz — to become the next crown prince.

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Before his nomination by Bush, Jordan was a founding partner in the Texas law firm Baker Botts LLP, a leading corporate donor to Bush's presidential campaign. Several top lawyers at Baker Botts, including James Baker, helped Bush during the election recount battle in Florida
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note the "no replacement nominated". hmmmmmm

and that is a severe understatement...