Hi friends,
I wonder what would happen in the nation of Saudi Arabia should the King pass away? With the recent scare of the King’s health, it led many people scurrying making predictions of future scenarios. Some sources say the nation was in a state of emergency alert, while others say there was none. My parents in Jeddah say there was nothing visible out on the streets. Here is what the situation is like, and I can only guess what can happen as to who would succeed the King and what the 44 sons would do?
> King Fahd is 82, is suffering from pneumonia.
> According to some reports, an “alert had been declared, and … military leaves had been canceled or at least discouraged. However, this was firmly denied by the Interior Ministry.”
> “The Saudi stock market tumbled 5 percent earlier in the week amid reports of Fahd’s deteriorating health. His hospitalization Friday helped push crude oil futures to near $52 a barrel ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the United States, the start of the American summer driving season.”
>”During his rule, Fahd brought the kingdom closer to the United States. His most significant action was a step that enraged many Islamic extremists — allowing the basing of U.S. troops on Saudi soil after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.”
> “The king tried to balance overtures toward the West with concessions to hard-liners, hoping to boost his Islamic credentials. He had himself named the custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites, in the western Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina.”
> “Fahd suffered short-term memory loss and an inability to concentrate for long stretches after his stroke in 1995. With the portly, goateed Fahd largely a figurehead since then, it has been Abdullah who has overseen the kingdom’s crackdown on militants.”
> “Under the kingdom’s constitution, each of the 44 sons of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, had a claim to the throne before its passing to the next generation.”
> “Diplomats expect the succession to be smooth and easy, provoking no instability. The script calls for Crown Prince Abdullah, the King’s half-brother and a cautious reformist, to ascend the throne and for Prince Sultan, now Defence Minister, to become crown prince.”
All my sources were taken from Google News, from various online newspapers. I hope and pray too for a better health for the King, and for any unforseen circumstances from occuring.
Mansur
