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Obituary

Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Who Helped Lead 1973 Oil Embargo, Dies

Arab oil embargo against U.S. caused an international crisis
Yamani was one of the kingdom’s most influential oil ministers

Sheikh Ahmed Yamani in 1973. — Sheikh Ahmed Yamani in 1973.
Photographer: Nick Sorrentino/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images

By

Anthony Di Paola,

Paul Wallace, and

February 23, 2021, 5:32 AM UTCUpdated onFebruary 23, 2021, 10:34 AM UTC

Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the former Saudi Arabian energy minister who helped direct the 1973 oil embargo and was later kidnapped by Carlos the Jackal, has died. He was 90.

He passed away in London and will be buried in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported.