Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja

Khoja was born in Mecca in 1940.[1] He obtained a bachelor of science degree from King Saud University. Then he earned a master of science degree in organic chemistry in Birmingham University in 1967.[2] He also holds a PhD in organic chemistry at Birmingham University in 1969.[1]

Khoja was appointed dean of the faculty of education in Mecca in 1979,[1] and his term lasted until 1984.[2] Then he served as the undersecretary for information affairs at the ministry of information from 1984 to 1991.[2] Later, he served as the Saudi Ambassador to various countries, including Turkey (1991), Russia and Morocco.[1] He was also Saudi ambassador to Lebanon[3] and was in office from 2004 to 2009. During this period of time, King Abdullah's foreign policy towards Lebanon was highly intense and also seen as an interventionist approach.[4] On 14 February 2009, Khoja was appointed minister of culture and information, replacing Iyad bin Amin Madani in the post who had been in office since February 2005.[1][5] Khoja's appointment was regarded as part of King Abdullah's reform initiatives.[6]

Khoja's term as the minister of culture and information ended in November 2014 when he was fired from the office.[7] Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Khudairi replaced him in the post on 8 December 2014.[8]

Khoja is considered to be a relative liberal and was close to King Abdullah, former ruler of Saudi Arabia.[4] Khoja is also a poet. However, some of his works are banned in Saudi Arabia, although he himself was the minister of culture and information.[9]

Khoja was the chairman of the General Assembly of Makkah Establishment for Publishing and Printing, publisher of now-defunct newspaper Al Nadwa.[10] As of 2011 he was also the chairman of the International Islamic News Agency (IINA) Executive Council.[11]