Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Ireland and Britain is leaving the post after three years to take up the high-powered position of Saudi envoy to Washington.
Prince Turki al-Faisal said: "I take with me wonderful memories of Ireland, and of the many new friends I have made, while helping to build further bridges between Ireland and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
Although he had been living in London, the former head of Saudi foreign intelligence had been a frequent visitor to Ireland, and he said he planned to host a luncheon in Dublin to celebrate Saudi Arabia's national day in September before he moved to the United States in the autumn.
"Wherever I have travelled in Ireland, I have been met with warmth, courtesy and friendship. For me, Ireland has truly lived up to its well-deserved reputation as the land of one hundred thousand welcomes," he said in a statement from the Saudi embassy.
The statement remarked that, after his Irish press interviews and appearances on Irish radio and television, "the ambassador was deluged with letters from Irish people, wishing him well in his quest for world peace".
A brother of Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, Prince Turki resigned as foreign intelligence chief in August 2001, a month before the September 11th terrorist attacks on the US.
Relatives of about 900 of the people killed in the attacks filed a civil lawsuit in the US accusing both Prince Turki and the Saudi defence minister of funding Osama bin Laden.
Prince Turki has vehemently denied the charges.
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