King Fahd dies, Abdullah becomes new Saudi king

By Laith Abou-Ragheb

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd died on Monday
and Crown Prince Abdullah was swiftly pronounced monarch of the
world’s largest oil exporter and key U.S. ally.

“With deep sorrow and pain, the royal court… mourns the
death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd due to
illness,” said an official statement read out on state
television.

A Saudi source said the kingdom’s oil policy would not
change after King Fahd’s death.

Diplomats said they did not expect major changes in Saudi
foreign policy under King Abdullah, who as crown prince has
been running the day to day affairs of the Gulf Arab country
since Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995.

The statement said Defense Minister Prince Sultan had
become the kingdom’s new crown prince. U.S. crude oil jumped up
almost 50 cents a barrel after reports the king had died.

The Saudi stock market, the largest Arab bourse, suspended
trading, a broker said.

Fahd, who was believed to be 83 and had been in poor
health, had entered hospital on May 27 with acute pneumonia.

“The royal family members have acknowledged Crown Prince
Abdullah as sovereign of the country … after which the
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and ruler of Saudi Arabia
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz chose Prince Sultan as crown
prince and the family members acknowledged that,” the statement
said.

In the past two years, the kingdom has faced a violent al
Qaeda campaign to end seven decades of his royal family’s rule
in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest shrines.

ARAB SUMMIT

In Cairo, an Arab League official said this week’s Arab
summit in Egypt may be postponed following the death of King
Fahd and consultations on the meeting will take place in the
next few hours.

Asked if the Aug. 3 summit would go ahead, an Arab League
official told Reuters: “We have to wait for consultations to
take place in the coming few hours or less.”

The official, who asked not to be named, said the summit
that is due to be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh could be “delayed or postponed. I don’t think we are
talking about cancellation.”

Fahd ascended the throne of one of the world’s richest
nations in June 1982, at the height of Saudi Arabia’s
petrodollar boom, but his 23-year reign was marked by three
regional wars and al Qaeda militancy in his final years. His
strong alliance with Washington and his decision to allow the
deployment of U.S. forces in Islam’s birthplace in 1990 enraged
militants loyal to Saudi-born al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden has vowed to depose the Saudi royal family who he
blasted as U.S. “agents and stooges” and whose rule he
described as an “extension of the crusader wars against
Muslims.”

U.S. troops remained until the 2003 invasion of Iraq and
the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

By that time the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, carried mainly by
Saudi hijackers, had already clouded the relationship with the
United States which had been Fahd’s foreign policy cornerstone.

Suicide bombings in the Saudi capital Riyadh two years
later left his kingdom facing insurgency at home while its
strategic alliance with Washington, centerd on oil and Gulf
security, had reached crisis point.

But relations regained strength after intense diplomacy by
both countries and Riyadh’s support for the U.S.-led war on
terror.