Tensions in Saudi royal family as king prepares to exit
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
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.
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
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