Prime Minister King Abdullah Name Abdulaziz Mohieddin Religion Islam | Nationality Saudi Arabian Preceded by Iyad bin Amin Madani Education King Saud University | |
Alma mater King Saud University
Birmingham University | ||
Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja (born 1940) is the former Saudi ambassador and he served as the minister of culture and information between 2009 and 2014.
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Early life and education
Khoja was born in Mecca in 1940. He obtained bachelor of science degree from King Saud University. Then he earned a master of science degree in organic chemistry in Birmingham University in 1967. He also holds a PhD in organic chemistry at Birmingham University in 1969.
Career
Khoja was appointed dean of the faculty of education in Mecca in 1979 and his term lasted until 1984. Then he served as the undersecretary for information affairs at the ministry of information from 1984 to 1991. Later, he served as a Saudi Ambassador to various countries, including Turkey (1991), Russia and Morocco. He was also Saudi ambassador to Lebanon and was in office from 2004 to 2009. During this period of time, King Abdullah's foreign policy towards Lebanon was highly intense and also seen as an interventionist approach. On 14 February 2009, Khoja appointed minister of culture and information, replacing Iyad bin Amin Madani who had been in office since February 2005. Khoja's appointment was regarded as part of King Abdullah's reform initiatives.
His term as the minister of culture and information ended in November 2014 when he was fired from the office. Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Khudairi replaced him in the post on 8 December 2014.
Khoja is considered to be a relative liberal and close to the King Abdullah. Khoja is also a poet. However, some of his works are banned in Saudi Arabia, although he himself is the minister of culture and information.
Other positions
Khoja is the chairman of the General Assembly of Makkah Establishment for Publishing and Printing, publisher of Al Nadwa. He is also the chairman of the International Islamic News Agency (IINA) Executive Council.