NEWS: Saudi King Fahd Dies.

Slow to be announced, the Saudi royal family being one of the most powerful on the planet in the country considered to be the seat of Islam, this is a major changing of the guard. King Fahd had been hospitalised for some time and there may be a lot more going on in officialdom before the formal announcement is made.



It remains to be seen whether there is a smooth transition in sovereignty. It remains to be seen how the US-Saudi relationship continues and develops , although the ties have been very strong indeed, and there seems to have been reluctance to state publically how much of the origins of global terrorism of the past 15 years have been from the nation of Saudi Arabia. The internal struggles over the future of the nation have been little understood in the west.

[edit on 1-8-2005 by John bull 1]

Good ridance to bad rubbish. This "Royal" family and I use the term liberaly have done nothing for their people. They live a live of such unabashed sin that Fatty Arbuckle would find himself blushing. Saudi Arabia should be one of the greatest powers on the planet. Its should have fantastic schools, amazing oil engineers, brilliant biochemists and a whole host of other great scientists, but it isn't. Its nothing near this. If it wasn't for the oil this place would have been the first place American invaded after 9/11, afterall most of the hijackers were saudi! But thats beside the point. Rant over

Getting back on topic...

Im expecting the transition of power to be fairly smooth as Abdullah has pretty much run the coutry for the past few years. I would have though any coup attempt would have come then. One thing this "Royal" family is good at is survival so I imagine that Abdullah has been cementing his place as the next king in all of the state instiutions for quite some time and I feel that a coup at this point is unlikely.

Additionally Abdullah can count on the US for support as long as the black stuff keeps flowing. The minute it stops all hell is gonna break loose. Or will it? The US now has Iraq and no-one seems to be taking any notice of where the oil is going there!

I think terror is going to always be an export from this place. It is the birthplace is Islamic fundamentalism but I completely agree with you MaskedAvtar. Few people in the West understand this.

I doubt there will be any real change in the Saudi family. There will be some internal shakeups as Abdullah consolodates his power and perhaps dishes out some payback to rivals etc. But as mentioned above he has been running the day to day activites for some time now.

"SLeeping with the Devil" is a somewhat poorly written, but insightful look at the Saudi ROyal family and its dealings with the US.

And yes, few do really understand the threat of Wahabbism or the Muslim Brotherhood pose.



[edit on 8/1/05 by FredT]

Yeah, the new king of SA is 4 years younger than the former king. At this rate, in 60 years we may see a SA King under the age of 60!

let's just hope and pray that Abdullah keeps the fundamentalists at bay, if Saudi falls to them all they have to do is turn off the taps. Is the west ready for gulf war three yet? at least we hold Iraq for when the Iranians kick off, (the real reason for kicking Saddam out)

well, this could spark a war in the Middle East if other countries, within the middle east, push to get rid of the Saudi Royal family. If that happens, expect a major war

how much u wanna bet that Bush I and II go to the funeral?

thanks,
drfunk

The King is Dead.

Long Live the King!

Bush Junior and Senior are Definetly going to the Funeral.

Oh no.

This is terribly, terribly, remarkably 100% bad. Really bad.

There's a power vacuum in Saudi Arabia now.

by MA
The internal struggles over the future of the nation have been little understood in the west.

Very true. Note to self: must read 'Sleeping with the Devil".

SA has been an enigma to me. They profess to stand against terrorism, yet so many evil deeds emanate from there. It remains to be seen if this transition period is perceived as a weakness and an opportunity to strike.

But if the royal family is overthrown, who would take over? Extremists? The US cannot afford to let that happen.

Well the rest of the world will be watching because of the oil thats there..

if radicals try to take charge, expect the West to send troops in to protect the Royal Family(i mean oil). If we send troops into Saudi expect the Middle East to explode..

[edit on 1-8-2005 by infinite]

I don't believe the transition of power will cause more than a small ripple in world events. The real trouble in Saudi Arabia will evolve from the small changes made to allow a tiny bit of democracy to take hold. The royal family would like to transition to something along the lines of the British Royal family, but it is very problematic this will ever happen. King Abdullah has so far proven to be pretty astute in his administration of the country, but he's going to have to be a real magician to get through the next four or five years.

Well there has been one outcome so far that is related to his passing.

Crude oil prices soared past $61 a barrel Monday as markets reacted to the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

There is no power vacuum.

Crown Prince Abdullah has been ruling with the power of the king for many years now, he has now been affirmed as King and will make the necessary appointments.

It all went rather smoothly, lucky for them.

Many years? Try 10 years. He's already been running the country for almost as long as Fahd did.

A power vacuum can only occur when there is no one to step into the shoes of the old leader. The leader of Saudi Arabia for the last 10 years, and who is still alive, is King Abdullah.

BTW, the Fatty Arbuckle line made me laugh. Good one Yes there is the inheirant social injustices that surround traditional monarchies, and Saudi Arabia is no exception.

The thing about the funeral that has me on a bit of an edge though is that muslims are required to be buried within 24 hours of dying. If Bush and Bush Jnr plan on attending the funeral there will be very little time for security arrangements. A nice prime target for Al-Qaeda if ever I've seen one.

[edit on 1/8/05 by subz]

As the experts have been saying,

The problem is, is that the royal family is very split. King Abdullah is in his 80 years, some have said this morning on CNN that they think he will only last between 6 months to a year. After King Abdullah goes, then the problems will begin.

The King has been dead politically for a while, but the rest of the Royals will continue running the show, business as usual. Of that, I have little doubt....

This is a very interesting Obituary.

King Fahd - A forceful but flawed ruler
By Robin Allen
Published: August 1 2005 09:16 | Last updated: August 1 2005 09:16

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, who has died at the age of 83, lived long enough to see the bulwarks of his 20-year reign brought under massive strain following the September 11 terrorist attack on the US in 2001. In the wake of the attack, his kingdom’s long-standing relationship with the US and his family’s role at the centre of Saudi Arabia’s theocracy came in for such heavy criticism as to call the future of both into question.

It was a messy end to a reign that had its share of achievements. Despite large-scale corruption and despite his own reputation in the west for being over-fond of luxury and soft living, Fahd was regarded by many as the father of his kingdom’s modernisation.

A talented administrator with a vision for his country’s future, Fahd initiated and followed through the country’s massive oil and gas-based industrialisation. He chaired the Supreme Petroleum Council, and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, the body responsible for building the two big industrial cities on the Gulf and Red Sea coasts. He was also largely responsible for the development of a free, nation-wide education system that ensured the education of Saudi girls for the first time.

In government for more than 50 years as minister, crown prince and king, Fahd brought in a team of highly educated technocrats, notably the ministers of finance and industry. He also introduced limited constitutional reforms, the most striking being the setting up in 1993 of a Consultative Council the Majlis as-Shura as a first tentative step towards wider public participation in the country’s government.

His flaw was that he failed to stem corruption in his kingdom. It did not start under Fahd. His elder half-brother King Saud had been deposed in 1964 because his corruption and misrule had bankrupted the kingdom. Yet the plundering of the country’s wealth under Fahd was on a massive scale. It was the start of the oil-fuelled development boom which brought unprecedented amounts of cash into the economy and Fahd was in a perfect position to exercise ministerial patronage...

Continues at link...

news.ft.com...

I am not too worried about the regime coming apart, Abdullah has been in charge for quite a while now. Not that I would miss the House of Saud particularly, but I don't think I'd much like whatever took it's place either.

Sadly, I think nothing will change. Not for the better at least.

This family has been in power in one form or another for hundreds of years. The attitude will not change, the game will not change. They've had generations to perfect the indoctrination of each new generation to guarantee no one strays from the path.

Until the last drop of oil is dragged out of the desert, this family will continue to be the number one power player on the world scene. And their support for wahabiists and other catspaw Muslim extremist organizations will continue as well.

These guys see, understand, and believe the big picture. the Soviets talked of big long term plans but lacked the faith of generations of precedent. A dollar here, a favor there, is how the real powers work.

Ever notice it's the Sheik's that support Al-Jazeerah? Royal cousins fund the hearts and minds campaign for Jihad.