Khaled Al-Sallal

Khaled Ibrahim Al-Sallal is a Kuwaiti soldier and security and strategic expert, and a former adviser at the Criminal Information Centre to Combat Drugs in Doha, affiliated with the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council. He contributed to Kuwait’s liberation and later worked in regional and international cooperation.

He grew up in Kuwait’s Khaitan district under the care of his grandfather, Mullah Maz‘al bin Hazza Al-Sallal, who owned the first private school in southern Kuwait. His grandfather taught him to speak frankly and defend what was right. His father, the actor Ibrahim Al-Sallal, was meanwhile using the stage to address social questions and had become a pioneer of Kuwaiti and Gulf theatre. Both men commanded great respect in a society that regarded art as a vehicle for educational, social and moral values, and together they helped shape his character. At preparatory and middle school, he explored acting and appeared in the thirty-part heritage series “Ibn Al-Hattab”, broadcast during Ramadan in 1974, and in “Al-Shater Hassan” in 1975. He ultimately realised, however, that the arts were not his true passion.

After secondary school, he travelled to the United States in 1975 to study computer engineering and completed his degree at the University of Oregon in 1986. His scholarship expired while students were being recalled for compulsory military service during the war, and the authorities declined his request for support through his final semester. Rather than alarm his family, he found work in the university cafeteria to meet his expenses. He also stood for election to the Foreign Students’ Union, finished second and became Vice-President. The position brought reduced tuition and free student accommodation, helping him overcome the crisis and complete his degree.

He subsequently completed a master’s degree in psychology, taking advantage of the opportunities and support available through the Student Union. These experiences made him more self-reliant, deepened his sense of responsibility and strengthened his ability to make important decisions without seeking help from others.

Three years after his appointment as an officer in the Kuwaiti National Guard, Iraq invaded Kuwait and opened a new phase in his life. He joined the resistance, was arrested by the Iraqi army and escaped two days later with the help of a fellow officer. Lieutenant General Khaled Boudi, then head of the military body and later an adviser at the Amiri Diwan, assigned him to help assemble officers for a popular Kuwaiti resistance unit.

The resistance unit disrupted the occupying forces’ operations and used his information-systems expertise to provide the National Guard with important intelligence.

During that period, he helped avert several Iraqi missile attacks by coordinating with central operations as a liaison officer to the coalition forces and by compiling intelligence, databases and targeting information.

Following Kuwait’s liberation on 26 February 1991, he was seconded to the Ministry of Interior’s security service. During the same period, the political leadership selected him to supervise a joint Kuwaiti-American security project in coordination with an adviser to US President George H. W. Bush. The President honoured him when the project was completed.

His secondment ended in 1994, and he returned to the National Guard as Director of the Information Systems Centre. There he established networks that strengthened its financial and administrative systems.

In 1999, he left the National Guard for the Ministry of Defence, where he remained until the war in Iraq began in 2003. After the war, he became Deputy Head of the Military Liaison Office at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Riyadh, serving until his retirement in 2009.

After retiring, he began recording the military operations and other historic events he had witnessed and experienced, intending to publish a book about that period. The book did not appear, however, because a year later, in 2010, he was appointed an adviser to Kuwait’s National Security Service. He later stood unsuccessfully for the National Assembly in 2012 before joining the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 2013.

His varied career eventually took him to Qatar, where he joined the Criminal Information Centre to Combat Drugs, an office of the GCC Secretariat General, as Head of International Cooperation. Over nine years, he broadened his practical experience and opened channels with numerous regional and international organisations concerned with narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. This cooperation contributed substantially to efforts against a scourge that had harmed many individuals and families.

He worked with the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and with related bodies, including the International Narcotics Control Board. He regularly attended meetings at United Nations headquarters in Vienna and sometimes led delegations engaged in support, cooperation and the exchange of information with GCC member states.

One of the Centre’s most notable achievements during his tenure was receiving former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Doha in 2015. It was unprecedented for the Secretary-General to visit a GCC office outside the organisation’s Riyadh headquarters, surprising a number of officials in both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Centre’s standing and extensive international relationships made it a focus of attention for countries and regional and international organisations, strengthening efforts to combat drugs across the Gulf Cooperation Council states.

After many years among the people of Qatar and witnessing decisive moments in the country’s development, he recorded his observations in “Qatar: Vision and Will”. He intended the book to document a nation’s growth, prudent investment and expanding international role, arguing that a country’s influence depends on its effectiveness rather than its size. Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup offered a central example: despite beginning with only one stadium that fell short of tournament requirements, the first Arab host completed every venue and built extensive infrastructure ahead of schedule. The book also examines Qatar’s soft and smart power, its attraction of major universities, its role as a venue for international dialogue and research, and its support for vulnerable communities without discrimination by race or religion.