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yellowwing
08-01-05, 02:00 PM
Take a look at Google News Search (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=ca&q=King+Fahd&btnG=Search+News) for 'King Fahd'. There are only 9 news stories on 'condolences' related angles but 1,335 'economic impact' related stories.

Let's see if they have a peaceful transition of power.

radio relay
08-01-05, 06:10 PM
I lived, and worked, in Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 1986. Even then, Fahd was not expected to last long as King, because he was so overwieght, and not in good health. So Abdullah, has been running things for quite a while.

Saudi Arabia has had one attempted violent coup, when the Air Force tried to take control in 1968. King Faisal, the target of the coup in 1968, was eventually assassinated in 1976 (I think was the year), by his nephew, who, in spite of having been educated in the United States, at the University of Colorado, was a radical, antiWestern, Muslim fundamentalist. There was also an attempt to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah (now King Abdullah), when he was Minister of Defense, by Shiites from villages in northern Saudi Arabia, who were upset by Saudi support of Iraq, during the Iran-Iraq war, in 1985. Not to forget that the Saudis have been dealing with terrorism for over thirty years. So, the house of Saud has been able to withstand quite a bit. There won't be a power struggle... This time.

However, there is a split in the younger generation. All the Kings since Faisal, have been sons of Abdulaziz Al Saud, by various of his 13 wives. Abdulaziz was the warlord, and one of the sons of Saud. Abdulaziz, united most of the Arbian peninsula by force, with the help of the United States. Thus, he founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the 1920's, and became it's first king.. However, all of the sons of Abdulaziz are aging, and soon their sons (third generation) will be coming online, so to speak. There is a great deal of diversity among them as to their allegience to Islam, the United States, and the West. After Abdullah, who is not as friendly to the U.S. and the West, as Fahd was, but is still not a radical Muslim, by any stretch, things could get interesting.