( CNN ) -- Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan , the man behind the kingdom 's committed policy to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , has stepped down from his intelligence post , according to the country 's official news agency . Considered one of the most familiar faces in the Saudi Royal House , Prince Bandar was relieved of his post as chief of General Intelligence on Tuesday `` upon his request . '' General Staff Yousif bin Ali Al-Idreesi has been assigned to act as Chief of General Intelligence immediately , the Saudi Press Agency reported . Prince Bandar bin Sultan served as the Saudi ambassador to the United States for 22 years until 2005 , and was appointed the chief of General Intelligence in 2012 . `` Even though he was ambassador to the United States for 22 years and very close to the Bushes , he was no friend of the United States for the last three or four years , '' Christopher Dickey , foreign editor at The Daily Beast , said Wednesday in an interview on CNN . Bandar took on the thorny task of building and implementing Saudi Arabia 's policy on Syria . He became a staunch supporter of the rebel cause , supporting the Syrian Free Army in trying to topple al-Assad 's government , and leveraged his close ties with his traditional friends in the West , calling on them to arm the Syrian opposition . However , a lack of international action on Syria and a thawing of Western ties with Iran marked a watershed in Saudi 's global orientation . Iran backs the al-Assad regime . `` Bandar was extremely hawkish on Iran even before he had this official position , '' said Dickey . `` One time or another he 's tried to take on Iran , and he has n't been very successful at that . '' In October , Prince Bandar was widely quoted as saying the kingdom would be making a `` major shift '' in dealings with Washington . This new stance , analysts say , could signal a pendulum swing when it comes to Saudi Arabia 's policy toward Syria . `` I think the American Saudi partnership in the region will probably be less rocky than when Bandar was running the show , '' Dickey said . U.S. President Barack Obama , who visited Riyadh in March for the first time since 2009 , discussed `` tactical '' differences with Saudi Arabia over the question of the arming of the Syrian rebels . A senior administration official told reporters after President Obama 's face-to-face meeting with Saudi 's King Abdullah that the United States and Saudi Arabia are `` very much aligned '' despite recent policy differences over Syria and Iran . `` I think the moderates are coming in and they are going to set the agenda for the next stage , '' said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla , professor of political science at UAE University . The United States and Saudi Arabia have a longstanding history , an alliance forged most notably by oil and most recently by the rise of al Qaeda-affiliated networks in the region .
Prince Bandar bin Sultan was appointed as the chief of intelligence in July 2012 . He served as the Kingdom 's ambassador to the United States for 22 years until 2005 . General Staff Yousif bin Ali Al - Idreesi took on duties as acting chief of Military Intelligence .