Word: saud
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Welcome Rebuff? A similar New York snub of Feisal's half brother, the former King Saud, by Mayor Robert Wagner in 1957 nearly precipitated an international incident. But no one appeared overly perturbed last week. The Waldorf rolled out the usual red carpet for the visiting monarch, the 35th-floor presidential suite was made fit for a King, and Feisal appeared content to dine (on cold shoulder?) in his quarters. "I think," said a Saudi official, "the King is above being angered by something trivial like this...
Riches to Work. Unlike his profligate half-brother-ex-King Saud, whom he nudged aside in 1964 after Saud had all but bankrupted the country-Feisal is an energetic, reform-minded ruler determined to put Saudi Arabia's oil riches to work for the people. No sooner was he in power than he ordered free education and medical service for all Saudis, stepped up oil production and trimmed the country's budget. Today Saud's lavish, pink-walled Nasiriyah Palace in Riyadh-with an air-conditioning system said to be second in size only to the Pentagon...
Feisal lives instead in a smaller economy model. Saud's beloved fleet of Cadillacs has given way to a pair of Chrysler New Yorkers, and with a deftly democratic touch, Feisal always sits up front next to the driver. To get just as close to the people, Feisal holds a daily majlis (assembly) and invites everyone-from the richest merchant to the scruffiest Bedouin-to come and get his gripes off his chest. "We believe," says Feisal, "that we represent democracy in its highest form, though its structure may be alien to Western ways...
...years ago under Saud, radios were barely tolerated. Today almost every family has one, and last year Feisal even introduced television-though a heavily edited version in which Dodge City cowpokes swagger up to the bar and demand "a shot of lemon squash." Even the land's harsh justice is being relaxed-in a quiet Saudi way. Rather than being beheaded, murderers are simply shot nowadays. Thieves still may lose a hand; but it is first pumped with painkillers, the wrist is wrenched from the socket to avoid any broken bones, and the hand is amputated with sterilized instruments...
...into Greece's Kavouri hotel for a while. The beach resort south of Athens has turned over all but twelve of its 72 rooms to Saudi Arabia's ex-King Saud and retinue, who spend $33,333 a day. Six of Saud's 47 sons also came along for the ride. Some ride. Piloting five Maseratis, a Buick Riviera and a Cadillac as if they had all Araby to maneuver in, they have careered into two pedestrians, busted a bus, wrecked a private car and demolished a lamppost. After all, the more gas they burn, the richer...