Word: fahd
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...DIED. PRINCE AHMED BIN SALMAN, 43, nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and a publishing and horse-racing magnate who owned War Emblem, this year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner; of a heart attack; in Riyadh. In a double blow to the royal family, Prince Sultan bin Faisal, 41, a cousin of Bin Salman's, was killed in a car crash on the way to the funeral...
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...
...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...
Such praise could be taken as a comment on the mess the Kingdom was in when Abdullah gradually began taking over following King Fahd's stroke in 1995. Custom dictated that Abdullah, as heir apparent, take the helm; the King, now 80, still appears for ceremonial functions but is too frail to run the country. During Fahd's 20-year reign, government spending as well as Saudi births soared, while oil revenues declined from $40 a barrel in 1980 to about $20 today. Fighting off Iraq's Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War also set the Kingdom back $60 billion...
...Abdullah's relations with the U.S. are complicated, that's nothing compared to his domestic conundrum. The Kingdom's Islamic establishment had free rein during Fahd's years - an attempt to curry favor after zealots seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979 and hard-liners criticized the hosting of U.S. troops for the Gulf War. As a result, the Islamic establishment has grown in size and strength to the point that Saudi leaders are terrified of confronting it head on. The religious sheiks give the al Saud Dynasty a vital cloak of protection against political opponents. So does...