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Astrazeneca: Our Vaccine Helped Save More Than One Million Lives

Mene Pangalos told Asharq Al-Awsat of aim to eliminate cancer as a cause of death

Mene Pangalos Executive Vice-President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D.
Mene Pangalos Executive Vice-President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D.
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Astrazeneca: Our Vaccine Helped Save More Than One Million Lives

Mene Pangalos Executive Vice-President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D.
Mene Pangalos Executive Vice-President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D.

In the global fight against "Covid-19”, AstraZeneca has become a household name for millions of people around the world. It has supplied over 2.7 billion doses of the vaccine globally, with approximately two-thirds going to low- and middle-income countries, according to Mene Pangalos Executive Vice-President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D.

In a wide-ranging interview, Pangalos told Asharq Al-Awsat the vaccine has helped prevent 50 million Covid-19 cases, five million hospitalizations, and saved more than one million lives.

Pangalos also spoke of the company’s ambitious efforts to eliminate cancer as a cause of death. “We're leading a revolution to redefine cancer care”, he says, adding: “Through our Oncology R&D, we are pushing the boundaries of science to change the practice of medicine and transform the lives of patients living with cancer, with the aim of eliminating cancer as a cause of death”.

AstraZeneca has been a pioneer in the fight against Covid, particularly through the vaccine it developed with incredible speed with Oxford University. Tell us about that process.

Recognizing the urgent need for a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, in April 2020 we forged a landmark partnership with the University of Oxford which brought together their world-class expertise in vaccinology and our global development and manufacturing capabilities. Together we committed to providing the vaccine broadly and equitably across the globe, at no profit during the pandemic.

AstraZeneca has now supplied over 2.7 billion doses of the vaccine globally, with approximately two thirds going to low- and middle-income countries and over 420 million doses supplied through our partnership with the COVAX initiative.

To date over 65 million doses of the AstraZeneca Vaccine have been supplied to Arab countries.

Unlike other pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca did not make profits out of the sale of its vaccine. What was behind this decision, and when do you plan on raising your prices?

We are proud to have put broad and equitable access at the heart of our pandemic response. AstraZeneca and its partners have released for supply more than 2.7 billion vaccine doses to more than 180 countries across every continent, approximately two-thirds of these doses have gone to low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The vaccine has helped prevent 50 million COVID-19 cases, five million hospitalizations, and saved more than one million lives.

In 2022, we have moved to an affordable pricing approach around the world that enables us to maintain broad global access to the vaccine for the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach includes a tiered pricing approach aligned to Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, which is a widely recognized and implemented model used by developers of medicines and vaccines. We remain committed to supplying the vaccine at no profit to low-income countries.

Your ambitious R&D program states that “cures for cancer are within your grasp”. Tell us more about that.

At AstraZeneca, we are always striving, searching for new knowledge and the next breakthrough as we aim to have the greatest and swiftest impact on disease. Our pioneering R&D is focused on preventing, modifying and potentially curing disease, to deliver innovative, life-changing medicines for patients. Our R&D approach is evolving from pure symptom control to disease modification, focusing on earlier and smarter interventions that defy the natural course of disease. By reaching more patients earlier, we aim to slow disease progression and drive remission.

Our ambition in oncology is to provide cures for cancer in every form. We're not going to settle for standard of care or incremental improvements. We're leading a revolution to redefine cancer care. Through our Oncology R&D, we are pushing the boundaries of science to change the practice of medicine and transform the lives of patients living with cancer, with the aim of eliminating cancer as a cause of death. Our approach is to identify and treat patients earlier in the progress of their disease when there is potential for cure, and to improve the treatment of relapsed or refractory patients by addressing emerging resistant populations, particularly in later stages of the disease.

Our drug discovery and development is guided by our R&D Framework, which champions quality over quantity, and has helped transform the culture of medicine discovery and our business.

When it comes to cancer, we have one of the broadest and deepest oncology pipelines in the industry, based on six scientific platforms: Immuno-Oncology, DNA Damage Response, Antibody Drug Conjugates, Tumor Drivers and Resistance Mechanisms, Cell Therapies, and Epigenetics. With a focus on monotherapy and combinations, biomarker-driven innovative clinical trials and digital technologies, we are confident that cures for cancer are within our grasp.

But alongside our Oncology R&D organization we also have BioPharmaceuticals R&D, which is focused on Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism (CVRM), Respiratory & Immunology, and opportunistically, Neuroscience and Microbial Science.

The two organizations work together, sharing functions specializing in key scientific capabilities from medicinal chemistry to biometrics, patient safety to data science and artificial intelligence (AI), and clinical innovation to device technology. Collectively these enable us to accelerate our efforts to bring new medicines to patients.

How does your R&D program compare with that of other major pharmaceutical companies? And how do you plan on strengthening it across the globe?

In 2021 AstraZeneca invested $8 billion in R&D, around 21% of the Company’s turnover, in order to continue to discover and develop medicines which transform the lives of patients.

The Company has three world class strategic R&D centers including The Discovery Centre (DISC) in Cambridge in the UK, one in Gaithersburg, Maryland in the greater Washington, D.C. region of the US, and another in Gothenburg in Sweden, as well as further hubs across the world.

It has integrated R&D teams and accelerated decision-making processes, using its unique scientific capabilities, to deliver one of the most productive pipelines in the industry.

Since 2005, AstraZeneca has achieved an almost six-fold improvement in the proportion of its pipeline molecules that have advanced from preclinical investigation to completion of Phase III clinical trials – from 4% to 23%.

This improvement moves AstraZeneca well above the current industry average success rate of 14% in the 2018-2020 timeframe.

This is achieved through the combined efforts of 13,000 people at AstraZeneca who work exclusively in R&D, out of the Company’s 80,000 employees globally.

In 2021, AstraZeneca’s scientists published a total of 871 manuscripts, with 196 in high impact peer-review journals, compared to just one in 2010.

Tell us about the R&D Postdoctoral Challenge that you are launching. What are its main aims? And why have you chosen to announce it from Dubai?

The events of the past two years clearly show the need to push the boundaries of medical science has never been more urgent.

Rapid progress in disease understanding, as well as scientific and technological advances are genuinely changing our expectations of what is possible.

We are delighted to launch the R&D Postdoctoral Challenge to support the next generation of science leaders and help them translate their ideas into meaningful benefits for patients.

We chose to launch the post-doctoral challenge from the global platform of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai to underscore the truly global scope of this challenge.

We believe that geographic location should not pose a barrier to scientific exploration and are seeking proposals from outstanding candidates based anywhere around the world.

We are committed to attracting and retaining new talent, developing differentiated capabilities and skills, and creating new ways of working.

AstraZeneca holds an R&D presence in more than 40 countries across the globe, including strategic research centers in the UK, Sweden and the US, and development facilities in China and Japan.

The R&D Postdoctoral Challenge aims to discover transformative breakthroughs that hold a key to preventing, modifying, and hopefully in the future curing some of the world’s

most complex diseases. We’re inviting final year MD and/or Ph.D. students and Postdoctoral researchers to propose their innovative ideas that could help transform the treatment of some of the world’s most complex diseases.

Shortlisted applicants will have the opportunity to pitch their research proposals to a world-leading judging panel consisting of AstraZeneca and external life science leaders, with the potential to be awarded a fully funded postdoctoral position at AstraZeneca.

The judging panel will critique the proposals based on scientific merit, and opportunity to create real impact for patients, society and healthcare systems.

Successful candidates will join our vibrant scientific community within AstraZeneca, with access to the expertise, compounds, novel tools and technologies, and mentoring support they need to turn their ideas into reality.

Assigned both an academic and AstraZeneca mentor, successful candidates will have the freedom and autonomy to contribute known skills, plus the support to rapidly learn new approaches to follow the science, innovate and make an impact.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to highlight our Early talent programs.

We have a portfolio of high-quality early career programs supporting a diverse range of scientific talent at all stages of their professional development. Every year, we support more than 500 young scientists – including apprentices, undergraduate and graduate placements, PhDs and postdoctoral scientists.

· STEM Learning: Over 500 of our employees currently work as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) volunteers to inspire the next generation of scientist leaders and promote an understanding of the value and importance of global R&D towards creating a better, more sustainable society.

· School leavers: We are committed to supporting talent at the start of their careers, offering apprenticeships to gain practical experience of working in industry, plus outreach to schools to elevate awareness of roles in science.

· Graduates: Opportunities are provided to complete three different placements in two years across R&D, focusing on delivering breadth and depth of experience, career counselling and guidance.

· Postdoctoral research positions: Our two to three-year program funds postdoctoral projects to address fundamental scientific challenges that underpin drug discovery and development.

· Based on 2020 figures, across AstraZeneca there were >140 postdoctoral appointments of which >50% from world’s top 100 universities.

· Following the program, >95% of the postdoctoral alumni remained in science/technology and their scientific disciplines.

Does AstraZeneca have projects in the Arab world? Are you collaborating with particular universities, governments, companies? And on what projects?

AstraZeneca has a strong presence in and enduring commitment to the Arab world. We have continued to increase our footprint significantly through local partnerships and investments, as well as emphasizing our patient-centric approach in the form of local clinical trials and R&D.

Working hand-in-hand to tackle challenges within the healthcare sector by contributing to a robust healthcare ecosystem, our priorities are aligned with national health agendas.

We work closely with government officials, ministries and other healthcare bodies to ensure uninterrupted access to innovative medication for patients.

Our ambition is to reimagine healthcare – harnessing innovation to transform patients’ healthcare journeys to improve earlier diagnosis, more precision treatments and proactive digital monitoring for better outcomes, powered by digital, data and technology.

Our priorities remain to ensure the continued supply of our medicines to patients, and to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all, leaving no one behind.

Over 65 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have been supplied to Arab countries through our partners.

UAE was the first country in the world to receive doses of our long-acting antibody combination, Evusheld, which offers pre-exposure protection from COVID-19. Egypt is also one of the earliest recipients of Evusheld doses.

How are you strengthening and supporting R&D across the world?

The A.Catalyst Network is an interconnected and dynamic global network of more than 20 AstraZeneca health innovation hubs, made up of physical locations and virtual partnerships. It connects a range of stakeholders, including governments, start-up companies and technology partners, to work inclusively and collaboratively to accelerate innovation, increase healthcare access and improve outcomes for patients and society. Each A.Catalyst Network hub has its own unique ecosystem, addresses different challenges, and can take different forms, depending on its local characteristics and needs.

We launched a hub in the GCC following the signing of an MoU with UK-based innovation partners, Gendius, in 2020. The A.Catalyst Network GCC hub provides access to a wealth of resources and information from partners around the globe. The HealthGATE application (a digital service designed to support the education, diagnosis and treatment of patients) and the expansion of EduGATE (a digital community of local HCPs with access to innovative tools and enhanced learning), enhance integration within this comprehensive biomedical ecosystem, furthering local medical capabilities, improving the abilities of healthcare practitioners and the lives of patients.

We currently have >2,000 active collaborations to accelerate drug discovery globally with academia, biotech companies, industry peers, healthcare systems and governments: 1,200 in Europe, 600 in the US and 130 in the Asia Pacific region.

Our Open Innovation programme offers a permeable research environment where scientists both inside and outside of AstraZeneca can share their ideas and collaborate on projects. Since its launch in 2014, we have reviewed more than 1000 proposals from scientists in 40 countries across six continents, and collaborators have been awarded US$75 million in grant funding to support their research projects using AstraZeneca assets. The Open Innovation portfolio currently features 35 ongoing or planned clinical trials and more than 425 pre-clinical studies.

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Interviews

Obeidat to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaddafi Tried to Assassinate King Hussein with Missile Given to Wadie Haddad

King Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi holding talks on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Cairo in 1970 (AFP).
King Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi holding talks on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Cairo in 1970 (AFP).
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Obeidat to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaddafi Tried to Assassinate King Hussein with Missile Given to Wadie Haddad

King Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi holding talks on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Cairo in 1970 (AFP).
King Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi holding talks on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Cairo in 1970 (AFP).

In the second installment of his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, former Jordanian prime minister and intelligence chief Ahmad Obeidat recounts details of a missile plot to assassinate King Hussein, which he says was backed by Muammar Gaddafi and carried out through operatives linked to Wadie Haddad, head of the external operations arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Obeidat, who also served as head of intelligence and as minister of interior and defense, revisits the confrontation between Israeli forces, the Jordanian army, and Palestinian guerrillas (fedayeen) in the border town of Karameh in March 1968, asserting that the Jordanian army “decided the battle,” but suffered a “moral defeat amid the fedayeen’s claims of victory.”

Obeidat died earlier this month. The interview was recorded before the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” whose aftermath delayed its publication. Below is the text of the second installment.
 

King Hussein inspects an Israeli tank left behind by occupying forces during the Battle of Karameh (Getty)

“Battle of Karameh”

Obeidat calls Karameh “a pivotal point of utmost importance,” especially for an army still reeling from the 1967 defeat and its withdrawal from the West Bank.

“The army lived the bitterness of that defeat,” he says. “It felt a moral, national, and pan-Arab responsibility.”

Karameh, he argues, offered a chance to restore the army’s fighting morale and reclaim some of its lost dignity.

“It was the army that settled the battle,” Obeidat says.

He credits Jordanian forces with thwarting Israeli attempts to build crossing bridges, destroying their vehicles on Jordanian soil and forcing, for the first time in Israel’s history, a request for a ceasefire. “The late King Hussein refused,” he adds.

Israel, he says, did not acknowledge a fifth of its casualties. Helicopters were evacuating the wounded who were “dripping with blood.”

He singles out artillery observation officers who advanced to the closest possible positions, relaying precise coordinates even as they effectively marked their own locations for shelling.

“The Jordanian soldier would identify his position near the Israeli army to be shelled,” he says, describing a willingness to die in order to restore dignity after the 1967 setback.

He says the declaration of “armed struggle” effectively erased the army’s role, presenting Palestinian fedayeen as the victors over Israel. “They monopolized the victory and ignored the army’s role entirely,” Obeidat says. “We emerged with a moral defeat in the face of their claims.”

He alleges that hundreds of millions of dollars in donations collected afterward, much of it going to Fatah, did not reach the Palestinian people but went to organizations and their leaders.

When the army entered Amman in September 1970, Obeidat says, it aimed to end what he describes as chaos: armed displays, roadblocks, arrests of soldiers on leave and interference in courts.

"When the army entered and began expelling the fedayeen from Amman, it swept through everything in its path. Even my own home, which I had recently rented after my abduction incident and which was close to the army’s command headquarters, was entered by the Jordanian army to search for fedayeen, while my family was inside the house at the time of the raid. My wife told them that her husband was an intelligence officer, but the Jordanian soldier replied, “Don’t lie.”

Obeidat says they did not leave the house until she contacted him, at which point he assigned one of his officers, the commander of an intelligence company, to speak with the army.

"Only then did they leave the house. The point is that the army swept areas without distinguishing between Jordanian and Palestinian; it wanted only to restore control over security. All of this forced me to send my family to my parents’ home in Irbid, in the north of the Kingdom."

He later describes what he calls a “state within a state,” extending from the Jordan Valley to Amman, after armed groups asserted authority over courts, roads, and civilian life.

On Syria’s intervention, Obeidat says Syrian forces entered northern Jordan flying Palestine Liberation Organization flags.

He later learned the decision was political, taken by the Baath Party, and that then-Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad complied reluctantly before Syrian tanks withdrew.

Iraq, he says, did not intervene. Obeidat affirms that he was told by Iraqi officials that neither the Iraqi state nor its forces intended to participate in any operation aimed at ending the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan.

According to one account, Iraqi leaders did not want to shoulder the political and diplomatic burden of the Palestinian issue or risk an uncalculated adventure.

He recounts another account, which he says he cannot adopt, according to which the operations command in the army was handled by a Pakistani figure. Under this account, Zia ul-Haq was receiving operational communications and sending messages that caused confusion among Iraqi and other forces, leading them to believe they would confront powerful strike units, prompting them to remain in a state of alert rather than engage.

He also recalls a meeting in which Palestinian figures, including Abu Iyad, reproached Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. Al-Bakr replied: “We are a state with one life. If we make a fundamental mistake, we end. You are like cats with seven lives.”

As director of intelligence, Obeidat says he dealt directly with operations attributed to Haddad.

Between 1975 and 1977, he says, a missile was sent to Jordan with a group led by a Jordanian, Brik al-Hadid, affiliated with the PFLP. The target was King Hussein’s aircraft.

“The intention was to strike the plane, with Gaddafi’s knowledge and approval,” Obeidat says.

Jordanian intelligence monitored the group from the outset and later arrested its members. The king’s aircraft departed Marka military airport as scheduled but flew in the opposite direction to its planned route as a precaution, using jamming devices against any incoming missiles.

When confronted by Mudar Badran, then head of the Royal Court, Gaddafi denied knowledge. “I have no information,” Obeidat quotes him as saying.

Obeidat describes the aircraft hijackings orchestrated by Haddad as “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” contributing to the army’s intervention.

He says Jordanian intelligence had infiltrated Fatah and monitored its leaders, including Abu Iyad and Abu Yusuf al-Najjar.

In mid-1972, intelligence learned that Abu Dawood and a group were planning to enter Jordan from Baghdad to seize the Jordanian cabinet during a session and hold ministers hostage in exchange for the release of detained Fatah members.

The group crossed in three Mercedes cars, dressed in traditional Arab attire, with weapons concealed inside the seats and forged passports in hand. They were arrested at the border after a thorough search.

Obeidat rejects claims by Abu Iyad that Abu Dawood was tortured, insisting that “not a single hair on his head was touched,” and says Abu Dawood confessed only after realizing the operation had been fully uncovered.

Later, King Hussein met Abu Dawood’s parents, who pleaded for clemency. The king read the full confession and then met Abu Dawood himself. He ultimately ordered his release, honoring a promise he had made to Abu Dawood’s parents.

In Obeidat’s view, Abu Dawood was affected by the king’s treatment of his parents and “did not pose any future threat to Jordan.”

Obeidat describes a direct relationship between King Hussein and the General Intelligence Department.

The king met with officers regularly, not only to hear briefings but also to hear their personal views. 

Obeidat says he would submit reports to the prime minister and also meet with the king. When addressing the king, however, it was sometimes necessary to elaborate verbally on certain issues so that such information would not circulate among staff. 

When he was asked to present a security briefing before the king, the late King Hussein would summon Crown Prince Hassan. The king’s advisers would also attend, along with senior army commanders, the public security leadership, the head of the Royal Court, and the prime minister. The briefing of the security report would include an explanation of the security situation and any external or internal challenges.

 

Interviews

Obeidat to Asharq Al-Awsat: Mystery Sniper Killed Wasfi Tal

Ahmad Obeidat during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's Editor-in-Chief Ghassan Charbel in Amman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Ahmad Obeidat during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's Editor-in-Chief Ghassan Charbel in Amman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Obeidat to Asharq Al-Awsat: Mystery Sniper Killed Wasfi Tal

Ahmad Obeidat during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's Editor-in-Chief Ghassan Charbel in Amman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Ahmad Obeidat during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's Editor-in-Chief Ghassan Charbel in Amman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Former Jordanian Prime Minister Ahmad Obeidat, who died earlier this month, was both a key player and a witness to sensitive chapters in his country’s history.

Obeidat began his career in the 1970s as an assistant director of intelligence, later serving as head of the General Intelligence Department until 1982. At the height of the Palestinian-Jordanian confrontation, he was abducted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine before the events of September 1970.

He also served for two years as interior minister before King Hussein appointed him prime minister in early 1984, a post he held until April 1985, concurrently serving as defense minister.

For more than 15 years, Obeidat remained at the center of decision-making. He later took on roles drawing on his legal background, from chairing the Royal Commission that drafted the National Charter in the early 1990s to serving in human rights and judicial positions, most recently as head of the board of trustees of the National Center for Human Rights until 2008.

Weeks before Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Asharq Al-Awsat met Obeidat in Amman. The interview had been scheduled for publication in October 2023, but the major developments that followed led to its postponement, particularly as Obeidat addressed contentious issues, notably Jordanian-Palestinian relations.

In the first part of the interview, Obeidat revisits his formative years, when his political and professional journey began as a law student in Baghdad on the eve of the July 14, 1958 revolution, before returning to Iraq after the fall of the monarchy amid sweeping regional transformations.

The account moves to his early professional life in Jordan, from a brief stint in legal practice to joining the Public Security Directorate, then serving in the Political Investigations Office, which formed the nucleus of organized intelligence work. It concludes with a detailed narrative of the establishment of the General Intelligence Department in 1964, its early structure and founding members, at a time when the Jordanian state was rebuilding its institutions in an intensely turbulent region.

Asked where he was when the 1958 revolution broke out in Iraq, Obeidat said he had completed his first year in law studies and returned to Jordan for the summer break.

“While I was in Irbid, news arrived of the July 14 revolution in Iraq that overthrew the monarchy. After the summer break ended, I went back to Baghdad, where a republican government under Abdul Karim Qassem had taken power,” he recalled.

The return was not easy. “We faced difficulties on the road. The border between Jordan and Iraq was nearly closed, so we had to return via Damascus and then through desert routes to Baghdad. It was an exhausting journey,” he added.

Obeidat left Baghdad in 1961 after completing his final exams. “On the last day of exams in the fourth year, I went home, packed and returned to Jordan the same day. The border between Baghdad and Amman had reopened.”

Among his contemporaries at law school was Saddam Hussein, who studied in the evening section. Obeidat said he saw him only once by chance. “He was with others, one of whom later became a governor,” he revealed.

He returned to Baghdad again in 1983 as Jordan’s interior minister to attend a conference of Arab interior ministers, more than two decades after graduating. There, he met his Iraqi counterpart, Saadoun Shaker. “It was an ordinary relationship,” Obeidat said, describing the ties as largely ceremonial.

From customs to intelligence

After returning to Jordan in 1961, Obeidat initially considered practicing law. But limited opportunities in Irbid and his family’s financial constraints led him to seek public employment.

He was appointed to the Customs Department in Amman, where he worked for several months before joining the Public Security Directorate in April 1962 as a first lieutenant following three months of training at the police academy.

At the time, there was no separate intelligence agency. Public Security included a branch handling general investigations. Soon after, the Political Investigations Office was formed, staffed by legal officers from the army and Public Security, including Mudar Badran and Adeeb Tahaoub from military justice, alongside Obeidat and Tariq Alaaeddin from Public Security.

The office handled cases referred by security and official bodies, including military intelligence and the Royal Court. After reviewing its work, the late King Hussein ordered the establishment of a legally grounded intelligence body. The General Intelligence Law was issued in 1964, formally creating the department, explained Obeidat.

Mohammad Rasoul Al-Kilani became its first director, followed by Mudar Badran, then Nadhir Rashid. Al-Kilani briefly returned before Obeidat assumed the post, succeeded later by Tariq Alaaeddin.

The shock of 1967

Recalling the 1967 war, Obeidat described it as “a defeat, not a setback. A military, political, psychological, and social defeat in every sense.”

He said there was no institutional intelligence view on Jordan’s participation. “The political opinion of a figure of Wasfi Tal’s stature was that entering the 1967 war was a mistake. He was not in office, but he remained close to the king and influential,” said Obeidat.

According to Obeidat, King Hussein believed Israel would occupy the West Bank whether Jordan participated or not.

“Participation was a gamble that might succeed or fail. The catastrophe was discovering that the Egyptian air force had been destroyed within half an hour,” he added.

Despite the bitterness, he said: “We did not fear for the regime, but we sought to contain public anger and absorb the shock.”

September and the assassination of Wasfi Tal

Obeidat first met Yasser Arafat after the events of September 1970. He confirmed that Arafat left Amman with an official Arab delegation to attend the Cairo summit and returned immediately afterward.

He recalled being informed mid-flight of the death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. “King Hussein was deeply affected.”

On the assassination of Prime Minister Wasfi Tal in Cairo, Obeidat said the gunmen who confronted Tal at the hotel entrance were not responsible for the fatal shot. “The fatal bullet came from behind, from a sniper in another unseen location. To this day, the sniper has not been identified,” he added.

He rejected the notion that Tal had been reckless. “Wasfi was not a gambler. He had a distinct political project,” he stressed.

Obeidat said the Black September Organization accused Tal of ordering the expulsion of fedayeen from forested areas in Jerash and Ajloun. He denied that Tal was directly responsible, saying the clashes began after fedayeen attacked a police station and killed officers, prompting a spontaneous army response.

Abduction without interrogation

Before September 1970, Obeidat was abducted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine while serving as assistant intelligence director.

Armed vehicles stopped his car as he was leaving his home in Jabal Al-Taj with his family. He and his brother-in-law were taken to the Wehdat camp. “We were treated politely. We drank tea. No one asked me a single question,” he recalled.

After several hours, he was driven to another house in Amman and later returned home. The next morning, members of Fatah took him briefly to one of their offices, only to release him on foot without explanation.

“Not a single question was asked,” Obeidat said. “It was bewildering.”

He resumed his duties after ensuring his family’s safety. “At the time, intelligence, like any official institution, was threatened and targeted,” he said, reflecting on one of the most volatile periods in Jordan’s modern history.

Interviews

Microsoft Saudi Head Affirms Kingdom Entering AI Execution Phase

Saudi Arabia shifts from AI pilots to live deployment in key sectors (Shutterstock)
Saudi Arabia shifts from AI pilots to live deployment in key sectors (Shutterstock)
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Microsoft Saudi Head Affirms Kingdom Entering AI Execution Phase

Saudi Arabia shifts from AI pilots to live deployment in key sectors (Shutterstock)
Saudi Arabia shifts from AI pilots to live deployment in key sectors (Shutterstock)

Riyadh’s hosting of the Microsoft AI Tour this week delivered a headline with concrete weight: customers will be able to run cloud workloads from a local Azure data center region starting in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The announcement was more than a technical update. It marked a shift in posture. Saudi Arabia is no longer testing artificial intelligence at the margins. It is moving decisively into execution, where infrastructure, governance, skills development, and enterprise adoption align in a single direction.

For Turki Badhris, president of Microsoft Saudi Arabia, the timing reflects years of groundwork rather than a sudden push.

“Confirming that customers will be able to run cloud workloads from the Azure data center region in the fourth quarter of 2026 gives organizations clarity and confidence as they plan their digital and AI journeys,” Badhris told Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the event.

“Clarity and confidence” may sound procedural, but they are strategic variables. Government entities and large corporations do not scale AI based solely on pilot projects.

They move when they are assured that local infrastructure is available, regulatory requirements are aligned, and long-term operational continuity is secured. The announcement of the new Azure region signals that the infrastructure layer is no longer a plan, but a scheduled commitment nearing implementation.

From pilots to production

Saudi Arabia’s AI story has unfolded in phases. The first focused on expanding digital infrastructure, developing regulatory frameworks, and strengthening cloud readiness. That phase built capacity. The current phase centers on activation and use.

Badhris said the conversation has already shifted. “We are working closely across the Kingdom with government entities, enterprises, and partners to support readiness, from data modernization and governance to skills development so that customers can move from experimentation to production with confidence.”

The distinction is fundamental. Pilots test potential. Production environments reshape workflows.

Companies such as Qiddiya Investment Company and ACWA Power illustrate that transition. Rather than treating AI as isolated pilot initiatives, these organizations are embedding it into daily operations.

ACWA Power is using Azure AI services and the Intelligent Data Platform to optimize energy and water operations globally, with a strong focus on sustainability and resource efficiency through predictive maintenance and AI-driven optimization.

Qiddiya has expanded its use of Microsoft 365 Copilot to enable employees to summarize communications, analyze data, and interact with dashboards across hundreds of assets and contractors.

AI is no longer operating at the margins of the enterprise. It is becoming part of the operating core, a sign of institutional maturity. The technology is shifting from showcase tool to productivity engine.

Infrastructure as strategic signal

The Azure data center region in eastern Saudi Arabia offers advantages that go beyond lower latency. It strengthens data residency, supports compliance requirements, and reinforces digital sovereignty frameworks.

In highly regulated sectors such as finance, health care, energy, and government services, alignment with regulatory requirements is not optional; it is essential.

Badhris described the milestone as part of a long-term commitment. “This achievement represents an important milestone in our long-term commitment to enable real and scalable impact for the public and private sectors in the Kingdom,” he said.

The emphasis on scalable impact reflects a more profound understanding: infrastructure does not create value on its own, but enables the conditions for value creation. Saudi Arabia is treating AI as core economic infrastructure, comparable to energy or transport networks, and is using it to form the foundation for productivity gains.

Governance as accelerator

Globally, AI regulation is often seen as a constraint. In the Saudi case, governance appears embedded in the acceleration strategy. Adoption in sensitive sectors requires clear trust frameworks. Compliance cannot be an afterthought; it must be built into design.

Aligning cloud services with national digital sovereignty requirements reduces friction at scale. When organizations trust that compliance is integrated into the platform itself, expansion decisions move faster. In that sense, governance becomes an enabler.

The invisible constraint

While generative AI dominates headlines, the larger institutional challenge often lies in data architecture. Fragmented systems, organizational silos, and the absence of unified governance can hinder scaling.

Saudi Arabia's strategy focuses on data modernization as a foundation. A structured and integrated data environment is a prerequisite for effective AI use. Without it, AI remains superficial.

Another global challenge is the skills gap. Saudi Arabia has committed to training three million people by 2030. The focus extends beyond awareness to practical application. Transformation cannot succeed without human capital capable of integrating AI into workflows.

Badhris underscored that skills development is part of a broader readiness ecosystem. Competitiveness in the AI era, he said, is measured not only by model capability but by the workforce’s ability to deploy it.

Sector transformation as economic strategy

The Riyadh AI Tour highlighted sector use cases in energy, giga projects, and government services. These are not peripheral applications but pillars of Vision 2030. AI’s role in optimizing energy management supports sustainability. In major projects, it enhances execution efficiency. In government services, it improves the citizen experience.

AI here is not a standalone industry but a horizontal productivity driver.

Positioning in the global landscape

Global AI leadership is typically measured across four pillars: compute capacity, governance, ecosystem integration, and skills readiness. Saudi Arabia is moving to align these elements simultaneously.

The new Azure region provides computing. Regulatory frameworks strengthen trust. Partnerships support ecosystem integration. Training programs raise skills readiness.

Saudi Arabia is entering a decisive stage in its AI trajectory. Infrastructure is confirmed. Enterprise use cases are expanding. Governance is embedded. Skills are advancing.

Badhris said the announcement gives institutions “clarity and confidence” to plan their journey. That clarity may mark the difference between ambition and execution. In that sense, the Microsoft tour in Riyadh signaled that infrastructure is no longer the objective, but the platform on which transformation is built.