Mohammed al Fassi

Mohammed al Fassi (1952 - Dec. 24, 2002), at times referred to as Prince al Fassi or Sheikh al Fassi, was a Moroccan/Saudi person who was related to the Saudi royal family. His sister was married to one of the brothers (Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz) of Saudi king, Fahd al Saud.

Mohammed was a student at Temple University in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s and was there when King Faisal was assassinated in March of 1975. He was given extra security in his dorm by the University for a time after the assassination.

While attending Temple, the other Arab students teased him about being a momma's boy and his mother's favorite son (she resided in London most of the time). They also made fun of his name, calling him Mohammed al-Fasia (aka Mohammed the Fart). Unfortunately he was never able to pass the TOEFL exams while he attended Temple University.

His relationship with the Saudi royal family went deeper than his sister's marriage. He was also considered a "prince" because he shared the same wet-nurse with other Saudi princes who may have been cousins. He once said that when he was a boy, he was raped by some older princes because, according to Arab tribal tradition, it is less of a crime to rape a boy than to have sex with a woman out of wedlock.

His reputation among the international Arab-speaking students at Temple University was that he was an immature spoiled brat who thought he could do anything he wanted with his money. He used the copy machine in the college library to change his failing grade reports to A & B grades so his father would continue to deposit money into his American bank accounts and allow him to stay in the US.

Probably Mohammed al Fassi's most rebellious act as a Saudi foreign student was dating and being with an American Jewish girl who was also a student in Philadelphia.

al Fassi's notoriety stems from his 1978 purchase (for $2.4 million in cash) of a 38-room white-stucco mansion on Sunset Bvld. in Beverly Hills, California which he promptly had painted pea green. al Fassi further "embellished" his new home by having the Italianate statuary around the property painted in flesh tones, with any visible pubic hair also painted in appropriate colours. This raised the ire of almost everyone in Beverly Hills.

Within two years of this purchase, the house was completely destroyed by a fire which had been set by individuals who were burglarizing the house. The crowds who had gathered to watch the fire (and who were chanting "Burn! Burn! Burn!") cheered when the copper roof collapsed, signaling the total destruction of the mansion.

al Fassi soon relocated to Florida where he once again provoked his neighbors, this time by letting his herd of goats roam onto their properties.

In 1991 al Fassi was arrested in Jordan and hastily extradited to Saudi Arabia, where he claimed he was subjected to torture. His arrest stemmed from his stance as an outspoken critic of the Saudi government's Gulf war and human rights policies.

al Fassi was known to be an animal lover to an extreme degree, and besides adopting over 100 stray cats, he was known to purchase live birds, fish, and even lobsters in order to set them free.

In 1979 this mansion was used as a set for The Jerk starring Steve Martin.

Citations

• http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/world/mohammed-al-fassi-50-upset-beverly-hills-over-house.html
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1418179/Mohammed-al-Fassi.html
• „Tales from An Arabian Nightmare“ by William McWhirter; May 2, 1983 at www.people.com

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Name	Al Fassi, Mohammed
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Date of birth	1952
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Date of death	2002
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