Nayef now likely heir to Saudi king
Source: Agencies |
October 23, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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SAUDI Arabia's powerful interior minister, Prince Nayef, now likely to become heir to the throne after the death of Crown Prince Sultan, has led a crackdown on al-Qaida militants trying to drive out Westerners and overthrow the ruling al-Saud family.
This has made Nayef, who is about 77 and is considered a conservative even by Saudi standards for his close ties with the austere Wahhabi sect of Islam, a pivotal figure in the world's biggest oil exporter.
The royal court announced the death of Prince Sultan, who was thought to be aged about 86, in New York of colon cancer at dawn yesterday.
As second deputy prime minister, Nayef is first in line to become crown prince, but he would have to be confirmed in that position by the Allegiance Council, a body of royals set up by King Abdullah after he came to the throne in 2005.
Nayef, already one of the most senior princes, has supervised the daily affairs of the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, in the absence of both the king, who suffers back problems, and Sultan in the past.
His emergence as the most active senior member of the ruling family has caused liberal Saudis some disquiet because of his close ties to the powerful clergy of the kingdom's austere Wahhabi school of Islam. But if he became king, Nayef might move toward the center ground of a political system that prizes consensus, allowing the slow process of economic and social reforms initiated by King Abdullah to continue.
Nayef was born in the western city of Taif around 1934 and is the half-brother of King Abdullah and son of the state's founder, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud.
He became governor of Riyadh at the age of 20 and has been interior minister since 1975. He was appointed second deputy prime minister in 2009 when Sultan left the country to convalesce after medical treatment. That put him in line to become crown prince.
Crown prince
The Allegiance Council, which King Abdullah will convene to confirm the succession for the first time, has the task of approving his choice of crown prince or nominating its own candidate instead.
Nayef's three decades as interior minister have allowed him to extend his authority across government into foreign policy, religious affairs and the media.
Analysts say Nayef may take a more moderate line if he becomes king, and note that the present monarch was portrayed as a staunch conservative when he became crown prince in 1995, but proved to be a sometimes ambitious reformer as king.
Nayef raised eyebrows in the West after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States when he expressed doubt that Saudis were among the hijackers and denied that militants loyal to Osama bin Laden were present in Saudi Arabia. But he launched an increasingly successful security campaign in response to a wave of attacks on Westerners and Saudi security forces that began in May 2003 and has vowed to beat the militants, however long it takes.
This has made Nayef, who is about 77 and is considered a conservative even by Saudi standards for his close ties with the austere Wahhabi sect of Islam, a pivotal figure in the world's biggest oil exporter.
The royal court announced the death of Prince Sultan, who was thought to be aged about 86, in New York of colon cancer at dawn yesterday.
As second deputy prime minister, Nayef is first in line to become crown prince, but he would have to be confirmed in that position by the Allegiance Council, a body of royals set up by King Abdullah after he came to the throne in 2005.
Nayef, already one of the most senior princes, has supervised the daily affairs of the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, in the absence of both the king, who suffers back problems, and Sultan in the past.
His emergence as the most active senior member of the ruling family has caused liberal Saudis some disquiet because of his close ties to the powerful clergy of the kingdom's austere Wahhabi school of Islam. But if he became king, Nayef might move toward the center ground of a political system that prizes consensus, allowing the slow process of economic and social reforms initiated by King Abdullah to continue.
Nayef was born in the western city of Taif around 1934 and is the half-brother of King Abdullah and son of the state's founder, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud.
He became governor of Riyadh at the age of 20 and has been interior minister since 1975. He was appointed second deputy prime minister in 2009 when Sultan left the country to convalesce after medical treatment. That put him in line to become crown prince.
Crown prince
The Allegiance Council, which King Abdullah will convene to confirm the succession for the first time, has the task of approving his choice of crown prince or nominating its own candidate instead.
Nayef's three decades as interior minister have allowed him to extend his authority across government into foreign policy, religious affairs and the media.
Analysts say Nayef may take a more moderate line if he becomes king, and note that the present monarch was portrayed as a staunch conservative when he became crown prince in 1995, but proved to be a sometimes ambitious reformer as king.
Nayef raised eyebrows in the West after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States when he expressed doubt that Saudis were among the hijackers and denied that militants loyal to Osama bin Laden were present in Saudi Arabia. But he launched an increasingly successful security campaign in response to a wave of attacks on Westerners and Saudi security forces that began in May 2003 and has vowed to beat the militants, however long it takes.
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