| Mansour Al-Zahrani | |
|---|---|
| |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Cause of death: | Killed in a bombing orchestrated by Tom Walker |
| Profession: | Diplomat Saudi |
| Played by: | Ramsey Faragallah |
| Season(s): | 1 |
| Episodes: | 3 appearances |
| First episode: | "Achilles Heel" |
| Last episode: | "Representative Brody" |
Mansour Al-Zahrani was a Saudi diplomat stationed in Washington D.C., he was also secretly affiliated with al-Qaeda and acts as a handler to Nicholas Brody and Tom Walker. He was a Sunni Muslim who married four wives and has several sons and daughters. Furthermore, he is homosexual but his women don't care about that, which shows that they have good relationships.
Biography[]
Mansour Al-Zahrani is a Saudi Arabian diplomat working in the embassy in Washington. He is a supporter of Abu Nazir, whom he helps organize his network as a contact person in the USA. For example, he contacts Tom Walker, the Marine Two, and tells him on a bill that he should go to Wicker Avenue. The banknote also comes with a key. So he gives Walker a precision rifle. When Al-Zahrani comes home in the evening, he is surprised by Nicholas Brody, the Marine One. He is angry that he finds out from the news that Walker is still alive, even though he was always led to believe that he was dead. He attacks Al-Zahrani and makes it clear that he is no longer available to Abu Nazir.
Shortly afterwards, Al-Zahrani has Brody kidnapped on behalf of Nazir because Abu Nazir wants to talk to him via video conference. Al-Zahrani then shows him William Walden's two-year-old press conference, which makes Brody remember why he wants to help Nazir. He also explains that Brody is being used by Walden to become president. In return, Brody will probably soon be offered a political office. Brody should accept this to show Nazir that he is still willing to help him. Al-Zahrani then lets him go again.
However, Carrie and Saul get on Al-Zahrani's trail and find out that he has three wives but otherwise enjoys the western lifestyle. He is also homosexual and goes to a bath every Thursday where he can express his sexual orientation. He has also spent a lot of money recently. So Carrie and Saul pretend to be loan advisors at his bank. Al-Zahrani quickly realizes that they want something different from him and confidently points out his inviolability and the trouble they would get if the ambassador found out about their action. Carrie still gets him to look at some pictures. In it you can see him naked in a men's shower. So Al-Zahrani asks Carrie's questions, who wants to know why he has used up all his savings in the last three years. She also wants to know why he was in Switzerland in Geneva six times last year. Most recently he was observed there, probably meeting one of Nazir's contacts. Al-Zahrani feels cornered and wants to leave. Carrie threatens to publish the photos, but he doesn't care. When he's almost out of the room, Carrie brings his children into the game. She wants to block his successful daughter's path so that she can only return to Saudi Arabia and has no chance of enjoying the advantages of the Western world. Al-Zahrani then says that he keeps his ears open for Abu Nazir and communicates with Tom Walker. He also tells them how he organizes meetings with Walker, to which they tell him to organize a meeting with Walker. He can then go on with his life and no one will know what he did or that he is now helping the CIA.
Al-Zahrani does as he was told, behaves inconspicuously and awaits Walker the next day at a fountain in Farragut Square, the center of the city. He dies there because it is not Walker but a man similar to him who comes to him and hands him a suitcase in which an explosive device is hidden. Walker sets off the bomb remotely just as Al-Zahrani accepts the suitcase.
Comments[]
At any point in the season did real world events trigger the slightest script tweak?
GORDON | [The death of] Osama bin Laden was certainly a line that we added, but it was a big one, because it really sort of stood for why this show was a post-Osama bin Laden show.
GANSA | And remember the recent [real-world] plot [to assassinate] the Saudi ambassador? It didn’t influence what we were telling but what we wish we had told, because that was such a great story, the idea that Al-Quaeda would target the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C. I wish that had broken a couple of days earlier. - By Matt Webb Mitovich
Trivia[]
US uncovers Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabian ambassador to America. - WES BRUER
Quotes[]
- “I love cock. Yummy yummy yummy yummy.”
Behind the Scenes[]
Appearances[]
| Season 1 | ||||
| "Pilot" | "Grace" | "Clean Skin" | "Semper I" | "Blind Spot" |
| "The Good Soldier" | "The Weekend" | Achilles Heel | Crossfire | Representative Brody |
| "The Vest" | "Marine One" | |||