Qaddafi and Saudi Prince to be buried same day: What a concurrence!!

Saudi Crown Prince passes away
By Katrina Jones - Oct 22nd, 2011 (No Comment)
3
Washington: Saudi Crown Prince and Defence Minister Sultan bin Abdul –Aziz has died at the age of 86, sources said on Saturday.
He had been on a visit to the United States for medical tests.

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Saudi Royal Family and U.S. Relations




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William Browning – Sat Oct 22, 5:58 pm ET
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Saudi heir to the throne Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz died after an illness today. He had been suffering from colon cancer and had been in New York being treated since June. He was 80 years old. Sultan was next in line to the throne of Saudi Arabia in the event that King Abdullah dies or abdicates.
President Barack Obama called Crown Prince Sultan a "valued friend " who served as the country's defense minister for more than 50 years. Throughout his time in the Saudi government, Sultan procured arms deals with the United States and was a key ally in the war on terror.


Ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia run deep. Here's a look at U.S.-Saudi relations over the past several decades.
Beginnings
U.S.-Saudi relations began in 1933 under the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, several years after King Abdel Aziz bin Saud unified the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia following a series of military conquests. PBS states oil ties began that same year when Standard Oil dug an oil well in 1938 and Saudi Arabia's oil production began.
The country was also vital to the Allied victory in World War II. Roosevelt deemed Saudi Arabia necessary to the defense of the United States and initiated a lend-lease program for foreign aid. The U.S. then used Saudi Arabia as a way to defend the world against Communism and the Soviet Union. The Project on National Security Reform states President Dwight Eisenhower visited the nation in 1956 to shore up ties and foster security in Saudi Arabia.


Royal Family and Oil
The next ruler of Saudi Arabia took over in 1953 as Crown Prince Saud became king after his father's death. He was forced to abdicate in 1964, seven years after turning over day-to-day operations of the government to his half-brother Faisal. It was under Faisal's leadership that OPEC was founded.
Saudi Arabia became increasingly more modern thanks to the royal family and oil money. As oil exports became increasingly profitable, eventually Saudi oil interests took over the country's economy. Originally, Standard Oil and Saudi Arabia split oil profits down the middle. By 1980, Saudi Arabia gained full control of the oil wells in a series of legal agreements. By this time, the Middle Eastern country was vital to the world economy.

Wars
Ties with the United States were tested from 1991 onward. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the United States used land bases in Saudi Arabia to launch attacks against troops of Saddam Hussein. BBC reported about 5,000 to 10,000 U.S. troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia until 2003. Part of that force was used to support operations in the Iraq War of 2003.
Relations became strained in September 2001 when former Saudi national Osama bin Laden was blamed for the terrorist attacks against the United States. Salon.com reported his family's company had huge loans and financial backing from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Because of the oil industry, the United States has always had to rely on Saudi interests no matter how strained they might become.

Most recently, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia both condemned an apparent assassination plot on Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir in mid-October. Although not a member of the royal family, Al-Jubeir is a trusted member of the Saudi government appointed to his post by King Abdullah.
William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.


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World waits for Saudi king to announce new heir
By Asma Alsharif | Reuters – 43 mins ago

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RIYADH (Reuters) - The world's eyes are on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Wednesday to make the widely expected choice of veteran Interior Minister Prince Nayef as his new heir, a decision that would emphasize stability in the top oil exporter.


The funeral of Crown Prince Sultan on Tuesday set the stage for the high-profile appointment in Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. ally with an aging leadership trying to reconcile conservative traditions with the needs of a modern economy and a young, increasingly outward-looking population.
"In the political system this is an important event, but the system is designed to ensure continuity," said Jarmo Kotilaine, chief economist at National Commercial Bank in Jeddah.
Prince Nayef, born in 1933, is sometimes described by Saudi liberals as an anti-reform conservative who is likely to take a cautious approach to social and political change, while viewing foreign policy through the lens of national security.
However, former diplomats to Riyadh and some analysts say the man who has served as interior minister since 1975 may show a more pragmatic side as crown prince -- and eventually as king.
In his six-year-old reign, the octogenarian King Abdullah has pushed changes aimed at creating jobs by liberalizing markets and loosening the grip of religious hardliners over education and social policy.


The Sunni Arab country holds a vital position on the world stage as it dominates oil markets, holds profound influence over Muslims through its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, and faces turbulence in its neighbors and a regional rival in Shi'ite Muslim Iran.
The funeral for Sultan, who died of colon cancer in New York on Saturday, took place in Riyadh's sprawling Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque.
The Royal Court said it would be open to accept condolences for three days. A U.S. delegation headed by Vice President Joe Biden is expected in Riyadh on Thursday.
CHIEF MOURNER
King Abdullah was chief mourner at the mosque, where Saudis in red-and-white headdresses were crammed between dozens of pillars behind the kneeling Grand Mufti as he led prayers.
The monarch, who left hospital on Saturday night after a back operation last week, remained seated for the prayers and wore a surgical mask over his face.
Among the mourners who went forward to greet King Abdullah after the prayer recital was Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
King Abdullah, who is in day-to-day charge of Saudi Arabia despite his old age and back trouble, must also name a new defense minister -- a post held by Sultan.
One possible candidate is Prince Khaled bin Sultan, a son of the late crown prince who headed Saudi forces during the 1991 Gulf War and has been a deputy defense minister for 10 years.
The job could also go to Riyadh governor Prince Salman, seen as the next most senior royal after the king and Prince Nayef.
Given Sultan's long illness, Prince Nayef, born in 1933, has for many years been seen as the likely new crown prince.
"We need young blood," said a Jeddah resident in his 50s. "If they appoint another crown prince from (this generation) we will find ourselves in the same position in a few years because they are all old and we worry that the young ones may later struggle over power."
CONSERVATIVE CREDENTIALS
Nayef's conservative credentials as head of a ministry that has arrested political activists have caused disquiet among liberal Saudis.
He was also quoted soon after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States as doubting that any of his compatriots had been involved when 15 of the 19 hijackers were in fact Saudis.
But Saudi-watchers said they anticipated few immediate national policy shifts if Nayef becomes crown prince.
"We do not expect any major or sudden changes in Saudi oil or foreign policy simply because the Saudi monarchy appears extremely cognizant of domestic challenges and their dependence on hydrocarbons to meet these challenges," said a research note issued by RBS.
During the long illness of Sultan and absences of the king, Nayef stood in for his elder brothers, meeting world leaders and managing the kingdom's day-to-day affairs.
"I don't think there will be a substantial change of direction," said Hossein Shobokshi, a Saudi columnist. "The country has always opted for the non-surprising method. So we don't see any big decisions in policy."
(Editing by Ralph Gowling)

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Prince Nayef named crown prince

Updated at: 0658 PST, Friday, October 28, 2011
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's powerful interior minister, 78-year-old Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, was named the new heir to the throne in a royal decree read out on state television Thursday.

Nayef -- who has been interior minister for nearly four decades and led a crackdown on Al-Qaeda in the kingdom -- succeeds prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who died last week in New York and was buried Tuesday in Riyadh.

The decree called on King Abdullah's inner circle to recognise Nayef's new status.

The prince was also appointed deputy prime minister, but there was no mention of who would take over the post of defence minister, left vacant by the death of Sultan.

Nayef was widely seen as the most likely candidate for the appointment even before the decree was announced.

Seen as more conservative than the 87-year-old king, he likes to describe himself as a soldier under the command of the Saudi monarch.

Observers are now waiting to see who eventually gets the defence portfolio, and in particular to see if it will go to a younger member of the royal family.

For the moment, the key ministerial posts are occupied by the sons of the kingdom's founder King Abdul Aziz, all of whom are in their 70s or 80s and some of whom have health problems.

King Abdullah himself only left hospital in Riyadh on Saturday after a back operation and appeared tired and frail at Tuesday's funeral.

In November 2010 he underwent surgery for a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a blood clot that put pressure on his spine, and he underwent further surgery in December.

Prince Nayef had tried in vain to persuade the king not to attend the funeral because of his concern for his health, the official Spa news agency reported. (AFP)

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