Word: abdullah
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Certainly there is work to be done. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, Abdullah has sent clear signals--albeit in the quiet, gradual Saudi way--that Saudis must face the rot in their own society. One after another, he called in groups of Saudi imams, teachers, journalists and businessmen and warned them against taking Saudi Arabia's puritanical creed of religion, known as Wahhabism, to unacceptable extremes. Though not to Washington's complete satisfaction, Abdullah began tightening up on potential terrorist financing, scrutinizing Islamic charities and freezing some suspect bank accounts...
...When Abdullah's half-brother King Fahd, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995, was running things, the Islamic establishment had free rein. As a result, it has grown in strength to the point that Saudi leaders generally are terrified of confronting it. But Abdullah seems to have the confidence to take a tougher approach. His assuredness is rooted in part in his popular standing. These days, no other prince can compete with him in popularity. He is widely regarded as straight talking and above corruption, especially compared with some of his conspicuously super-rich brothers...
Saudis nonetheless regard Abdullah, an energetic man despite his considerable girth, as a dedicated, in-touch ruler. Each day he rises around noon, a common practice among Saudis, who often prefer to work in the cooler nights. Abdullah greets visiting dignitaries, emissaries and ordinary citizens until his 7 p.m. meal, naps until midnight and then puts in another day's work until dawn prayers. Though a devout Muslim, if he's a zealot about anything it's TV news: his office has a bank of 33 television sets so he can monitor all the available satellite channels at once...
...popular touch can be useful as Abdullah goes about tackling entrenched problems. During Fahd's 20-year reign, government spending soared, while oil revenues declined from $40 per bbl. in 1980 to about $20 today. Abdullah has set out to shake the kingdom of its dependence on oil, which produces 70% of the nation's wealth. He has spearheaded the most significant attempt at economic restructuring in the kingdom's history, opening negotiations with American and other Western energy powers on a $100 billion foreign-investment project to develop natural gas and build related electricity and water-desalination plants...
...same time, Abdullah has slashed government budgets. In February, he warned bureaucrats that they faced dismissal if they didn't perform effectively, a shocking declaration in a system that once assured every college graduate a government desk and a paycheck, work or no work. The 30,000-strong royal family wasn't spared the belt tightening: no more ignoring telephone and utility bills, he decreed, or treating the national carrier Saudia like a private airline...