Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Crown Prince Sultan has died, moving his brother
Nayef in position to imminently succeed the king of the Gulf Cooperation
Council.

On Oct. 22, a Saudi palace statement announced Sultan’s death in the
United States. Sultan, believed to be 86 and close to the United States, has
been in a New York hospital for treatment since July 2011 and was believed
to have been on life-support systems at New York Presbyterian hospital since
mid-September.

“With deep sorrow and sadness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz mourns the death of his brother and his Crown Prince
Sultan… who died at dawn this morning Saturday outside the kingdom
following an illness,” the statement said.

The palace statement said the body of Sultan, who was also defense
minister, would be flown from the United States and buried on Oct. 25. No
further details were given on Sultan, diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004
and said to have died on Oct. 21.

Sultan’s death has brought Nayef in line to be the next crown prince.
The 76-year-old interior minister and deputy prime minister has been the de
facto ruler of Saudi Arabia since 2009 amid the deterioration of King
Abdullah.

In late October, Abdullah underwent another operation on his back, which
the state media deemed a success. Still, Western diplomats said the king,
believed by the United States to be 95 years old, was hardly functioning and
could die within months.

The diplomats said Sultan’s death would lead to the formal transfer of
his defense portfolio to a senior prince. They said much of Sultan’s
responsibilities had already been assumed by the king while daily
assignments were conducted by the son of the late crown prince, Khaled. In
2009, the State Department determined that Sultan was incapacitated.

In 2010, Saudi Arabia requested $60 billion worth of aircraft and
missiles from the United States. So far, no contracts have been signed.

  Nayef, Saudi Arabia, Saudi crown prince dies; Nayef succeeds