Tensions in Saudi royal family as king prepares to exit

LONDON [MENL] -- Saudi Arabia's royal family is said to be bracing for a power struggle.

The power struggle comes as King Fahd is being prepared to leave the kingdom for an extended stay in his palace in southern Spain. Fahd's departure will, in effect, mean the end of his reign. The king has never recovered from a stroke in 1995.

Fahd's successor is expected to be his deputy, Crown Prince Abdullah. Last week, the kingdom announced the first meeting of a new 18-member royal family council in what analysts and diplomats expect will formally pave the way for a transition in power.

The council marks a rare occasion when the royal family met to discuss the succession issue before the death of a Saudi monarch. The panel is chaired by Abdullah and include his half-brother Prince Sultan, the Saudi defense minister.

The Saudi press agency gave few details of the council meeting. But the agency said "appropriate decisions were taken." The council does not include Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef, who was said to have upset Abdullah by failing to report to him.

Fahd's health is clearly failing. He was admitted to a Saudi hospital earlier this month and his speech to the opening of the consultative council on June 6 was read for him.

At the same time, Arab diplomatic sources said, Abdullah cancelled his trip to Latin America.

Since the death of King Abdul Aziz, or Ibn Saud, the founder of the Saudi state, in 1953, succession has passed from one half-brother to another. But the Al Saudi family is old, with the average age of the princes being in their 60s. Fahd was 61 when he became king in 1982.

Abdullah's expected succession appears fraught with difficulties, the sources said. The crown prince does not have any brothers while Fahd has six full brothers.

Simon Henderson, a consultant on Saudi Arabia based in London, said Abdullah will probably appoint Sultan as crown prince. Sultan is the senior of Fahd's younger brothers.

"There are no commoners on the new family council, and the inclusion of descendants of kings from branches which lost power 170 years ago hardly enables the body to be considered part of a modernizing trend," Henderson wrote in a study for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Another view is that the council will tackle royal issues like fixing guidelines for royal involvement in business and allowing Al Saud princesses to marry commoners."

The power struggle in Riyad comes as the United States has relied on Saudi Arabia to be a major financier in the Arab-Israeli peace process and as Iran tries to increase its influence in the Gulf.

"Washington's hope will be that the new family council represents another step in a smooth, slow transition from the ill King Fahd to his obvious successor Abdullah," Henderson said.