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King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies
Brian Whitaker contemplates what the future holds for Saudi Arabia in the reign of King Abdullah and beyond
In a halting voice, Iyad bin Amin Madani, Saudi Arabia's information minister, read out the announcement on television:
"With all sorrow and sadness, the royal court in the name of His Highness Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz and all members of the family announces the death of the custodian of the two holy mosques, King Fahd bin Abd al-Aziz."
The minister paused, apparently holding back tears, before resuming his announcement.
King Fahd's death has plunged the kingdom into mourning but it was scarcely unexpected unless you believed the official reports. He was about 84 and had been incapacitated since suffering a stroke in 1995.
He had been rushed to hospital in May "for tests" and had remained there ever since. Constantly reassuring reports insisted that his health was improving. Only last week, the government announced a release of prisoners to celebrate his "recovery".
At the ripe old age of 81, former Crown Prince Abdullah now takes over the throne - and with it control over 25% of the world's known oil reserves.
Abdullah is regarded as a straightforward and pious man, traditional in many of his attitudes but not averse to gradual reform. As one of many sons (by 16 wives) of the first king, Abd al-Aziz, he was tutored by Islamic scholars in the royal court but also bundled off to the desert to live with the Bedouin and learn their rugged ways.
"I train my own children to walk barefoot, to rise two hours before dawn, to eat but little, to ride horses bareback," his father was quoted as saying.
It was not until the discovery of abundant oil - the first exports were in 1938 - that the harsh ways of the desert began to be replaced by luxury and indolence. Today Prince Abdullah travels in a Rolls-Royce (registration 001) but has retained more of old values than many of his contemporaries.
Like many Saudi princes, he watches television a lot. A Time magazine reporter who visited his office found a bank of 33 television sets all switched on "so he can monitor all the available satellite channels at once".
TV news, rather than the reports from officials, seem to have shaped many of his ideas on foreign policy. His Arab-Israeli peace plan three years ago was said to have been inspired by watching footage of the Palestinian intifada.
More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1540445,00.html
"With all sorrow and sadness, the royal court in the name of His Highness Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz and all members of the family announces the death of the custodian of the two holy mosques, King Fahd bin Abd al-Aziz."
The minister paused, apparently holding back tears, before resuming his announcement.
King Fahd's death has plunged the kingdom into mourning but it was scarcely unexpected unless you believed the official reports. He was about 84 and had been incapacitated since suffering a stroke in 1995.
He had been rushed to hospital in May "for tests" and had remained there ever since. Constantly reassuring reports insisted that his health was improving. Only last week, the government announced a release of prisoners to celebrate his "recovery".
At the ripe old age of 81, former Crown Prince Abdullah now takes over the throne - and with it control over 25% of the world's known oil reserves.
Abdullah is regarded as a straightforward and pious man, traditional in many of his attitudes but not averse to gradual reform. As one of many sons (by 16 wives) of the first king, Abd al-Aziz, he was tutored by Islamic scholars in the royal court but also bundled off to the desert to live with the Bedouin and learn their rugged ways.
"I train my own children to walk barefoot, to rise two hours before dawn, to eat but little, to ride horses bareback," his father was quoted as saying.
It was not until the discovery of abundant oil - the first exports were in 1938 - that the harsh ways of the desert began to be replaced by luxury and indolence. Today Prince Abdullah travels in a Rolls-Royce (registration 001) but has retained more of old values than many of his contemporaries.
Like many Saudi princes, he watches television a lot. A Time magazine reporter who visited his office found a bank of 33 television sets all switched on "so he can monitor all the available satellite channels at once".
TV news, rather than the reports from officials, seem to have shaped many of his ideas on foreign policy. His Arab-Israeli peace plan three years ago was said to have been inspired by watching footage of the Palestinian intifada.
More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1540445,00.html
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Saudi Arabia's longtime ruler, King Fahd, died in the hospital yesterday at the age of 83 and was immediately succeeded by his elderly half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah. Saudi Arabia's 24 million people awoke to state television and radio carrying a reading from the Koran, followed a short while later with Iyad Madani, the information minister, announcing King Fahd's death after 23 years as monarch. Fahd had close relations with Washington and was reviled by many muslims internationally. In 1990, Fahd allowed the Pentagon to station hundreds of thousands of troops in Saudi Arabia ahead of the first Gulf War and the kingdom served as the main operating base for the United States in the region. The move sparked outrage across the Muslim world because Saudi Arabia is home to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina. Under Fahd, the Saudis allowed the US to use its territory and airspace to launch consistent attacks against neighboring Iraq. This is particularly relevant given that Fahd declared that his most important title was not king of Saudi Arabia, but "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques."
Fahd's policies as king were central to the formation of Osama bin Laden's world view and are mentioned consistently in bin Laden's speeches and interviews. King Abdullah's accession to the throne maintains the grip on power held by the House of Saud-- descendants of King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, the tribal leader who founded the country in 1932. Abdullah is the fifth of his sons to serve as king.
Fahd's death comes just days after the departure of the kingdom's longtime Washington ambassador known popularly as "Bandar Bush" for his closeness to the Bush dynasty. The new Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said he will adhere to Saudi Arabia's long-standing oil policy aimed at ensuring global markets are well supplied. His comments came after oil prices shot to a record above $62 a barrel in part due to uncertainties about the future of the kingdom, which has enjoyed rare closeness with the White House.
* Prince Turki, new Saudi ambassador to Washington:
"The crown prince who has become king, King Abdullah, worked closely with the late King Fahd in implementing the policies of Saudi Arabia both external and internal. So, I cannot imagine that there will be any particular change in that policy, but rather a continuation of the policies undertaken by the late King Fahd."
Saudi Arabia's next ambassador to the US, Prince Turki, is a leading member of the Royal Family and served as the head of Saudi intelligence for nearly a quarter of a century. Most recently, he was ambassador to London. His arrival in Washington is likely to cause controversy. The prince was among several leading Saudi figures who were named in a $1 trillion lawsuit filed by the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks, who claimed that he helped to fund Osama bin Laden's network. And, on at least 5 occasions, Prince Turki met personally with bin Laden and his lieutenants. He described bin Laden as "very soft- spoken" and "quite a pleasant man."
The Times of London reported in 2002 that before the 9/11attacks, diplomatic sources said that the Saudi Government had come under intense pressure from Washington to replace Prince Turki as head of Saudi intelligence because of his past association and support for bin Laden. Well to go through all of this--the death of King Fahd, the arrival of Prince Turki in Washington, the future of the world's greatest oil producing nation.
* As'ad AbuKhalil, Professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at UC, Berkeley. He is the author of several books, his latest is "The Battle for Saudi Arabia: Royalty, Fundamentalism, and Global Power." His blog is The Angry Arab News Service.
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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/02/1438216