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Saudi king prepares to name new crown prince
Source: Agencies |
October 27, 2011, Thursday
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SAUDI Arabia ends a mourning period for Crown Prince Sultan today, opening the way for King Abdullah to appoint his new heir who is widely expected to be the veteran interior minister.
The timing of the announcement is unknown, except that it will come at some stage after the three-day period when the royal court has accepted condolences for the death of Sultan, and not necessarily today.
But Prince Nayef, who has long been interior minister of the world's top oil exporter, is likely to be named the new crown prince, succeeding Prince Sultan who died of cancer last week.
Conservative even by Saudi Arabia's austere standards, Nayef is sometimes portrayed as putting the brakes on the king's cautious political reforms. Earlier this year he publicly admonished a member of the mainly consultative Shura Council who had called for a review of the ban on women driving.
However, some diplomats and analysts say Nayef, who was born in 1933 and has served as interior minister since 1975, may show a more pragmatic side as crown prince -- and eventually as king.
An Allegiance Council of the ruling family, set up by the king in 2006, is expected to approve his nomination of a new crown prince.
King Abdullah, who was born in the early 1920s, has had no designated successor since Sultan's death last Saturday but the council can step in if anything befalls the ruler before an heir is named.
The timing of the announcement is unknown, except that it will come at some stage after the three-day period when the royal court has accepted condolences for the death of Sultan, and not necessarily today.
But Prince Nayef, who has long been interior minister of the world's top oil exporter, is likely to be named the new crown prince, succeeding Prince Sultan who died of cancer last week.
Conservative even by Saudi Arabia's austere standards, Nayef is sometimes portrayed as putting the brakes on the king's cautious political reforms. Earlier this year he publicly admonished a member of the mainly consultative Shura Council who had called for a review of the ban on women driving.
However, some diplomats and analysts say Nayef, who was born in 1933 and has served as interior minister since 1975, may show a more pragmatic side as crown prince -- and eventually as king.
An Allegiance Council of the ruling family, set up by the king in 2006, is expected to approve his nomination of a new crown prince.
King Abdullah, who was born in the early 1920s, has had no designated successor since Sultan's death last Saturday but the council can step in if anything befalls the ruler before an heir is named.
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