KING ABDULLAH MOURNED
Saudi Arabia buried King Abdullah on Friday after a subdued and austere funeral attended by Muslim dignitaries from around the world. Abdullah, who led the country for nearly two decades, died earlier in the day at the age of 90 after falling ill with pneumonia. The swift burial was in keeping with Muslim custom, as was the lack of a coffin and elaborate ceremony — Islamic tradition holds that all people are equal in death before God. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, and other Muslim countries quickly declared periods of mourning for Abdullah. Even rival Iran is dispatching its foreign minister to pay his respects, and Vice President Joe Biden, French President Francois Hollande, King Felipe VI of Spain and Prince Charles have also announced plans to travel to Riyadh in the coming days.
— From news services
Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz began his first day on the job with a crisis.
Just hours before he was named king following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Yemeni president who was appointed through a Saudi-led initiative resigned under pressure from rebels who the Gulf Arabs say are backed by their main rival, Iran.
It highlighted the tests the new king faces. There’s the rising influence of Iran as the country pursues talks with the U.S. that could lead to its international rehabilitation. And at home, Salman takes the helm of the world’s largest oil exporter after a more than 50 percent plunge in the price of crude.
“Of all the kings Saudi Arabia has had, King Salman’s ascension to the throne comes at the worst time in the history of the kingdom,” said Kamran Bokhari, adviser for Middle Eastern and South Asian affairs at Stratfor.
Salman’s first action as king was to appoint a deputy crown prince, putting an end to speculation about whether the succession to a younger generation of Saudi princes would proceed smoothly. His choice was his nephew, Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who led the country’s crackdown on al-Qaida militants in the kingdom a decade ago.
Salman will keep cabinet ministers in their place, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, a sign he will maintain the status quo at least in the short term.
“There’s a good chance there won’t be much change for the foreseeable future,” said Toby Matthiesen, research fellow at University of Cambridge and author of two books on Saudi Arabia. “He’s been so long in the decision-making apparatus.”
Matthiesen said appointing Mohamed shows an emphasis on security, given the violence in the region and the jostling for influence with Shiite Iran.
In Yemen, Shiite Houthi rebels have become the dominant force in the capital. The breakdown of Yemen risks increasing lawlessness that allowed al-Qaida to flourish. Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed this month’s attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 people. In 2009, it tried to assassinate Prince Mohamed by implanting a device inside a suicide bomber’s body cavity.
In Syria, the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels whom the Saudis support militarily and financially have failed to dislodge President Bashar Assad, an Iranian protégé.
Saudi Arabia is also fighting Islamic State militants as part of the U.S.-led coalition and is trying to keep the threat of extremism and the unrest sweeping the Arab world outside its borders. Falling oil prices, though, are straining its budget.
One relationship that will remain solid is that of Saudi Arabia and the U.S., said said Ford M. Fraker, president of the Middle East Policy Council and U.S. ambassador to the kingdom from 2007 to 2009.
Salman is “extremely well-known to U.S. officials” and enjoys talking about how it was his father with Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945 who cemented the bond, he said.
“That story is very important to the senior royals and they look to that as the foundation of the relationship,” he said.
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