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At the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh Tuesday, male members of the Saudi royal family, plus Arab and Muslim leaders from around the world, said good-bye to Crown Prince Sultan, who died in the United States Saturday.
 Click here to view more images The remains of the late heir was draped in his brown cloak as it was carried through the mosque before prayers were said.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Sultan’s brother, was present, though he was wheelchair bound and wore a surgical mask over his face. Many wonder how long the King, who is believed to be 88 years old and has had health problems, will last and how his death will effect Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.
Already there is speculation over who will be the next Crown Prince. It is widely believed that the interior minister, Prince Nayef, will become that.
But then, who would become the Interior Minister? And who will fill that person’s space, and so on.
Despite his health problems, the King still has enormous power in Saudi Arabia. It is he who will name the new defense minister, which was one of Crown Prince Sultan’s positions. Supposedly, Sultan’s son, Prince Khaled, will take that role. He has been deputy defense minister for 10 years.
But then again, Riyadh governor, Prince Salman, could become the defense minister, since he is the most senior royal after the King and Prince Nayef.
Problem for many ordinary Saudis is that these royals are in their 70s and 80s, far older and more conservative then the younger population.
“We need young blood,” said a Jeddah resident in his 50s. “If they appoint another crown prince from (this generation) we will find ourselves in the same position in a few years because they are all old and we worry that the young ones may later struggle over power.”
In the meantime, the royal house of Saud will mourn its second most senior member – as well as a member of its family.
“He was a refuge for us at times of difficulties,” Prince Nayef told Saudi Television. “I have felt King Abdullah’s love toward Prince Sultan.”
“We had wished that the King should not go to the airport and take part in the funeral considering his health but when we realized the place Sultan occupied in his heart we supported the idea,” he said.
The foreign royals at Crown Prince Sultan’s funeral included the King of Jordan, Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Crown Prince Billah of Brunei, and Prince Moulay Rashid of Morocco. The heads of states included President Hamad Karzai of Afghanistan and Chairman of Egyptian Military Council Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi.
In the coming days, Spain’s Prince Felipe, Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will be among the foreign delegations coming to Riyadh to personally offer their condolences to King Abdullah.
Source: Reuters, Arab News
This month has seen health problems arise for the most senior members of the House of Saud: King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Sultan. Both in their 80s, these two both have had health issues for a while.
 Click here for photo gallery at Daylife.com This Monday saw the 88 year old King go in for surgery on his back at the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. He had work done the ligaments around his third vertebra.
“The surgery, thanks be to God, was successful,” the royal court statement, carried by the Saudi state news agency, said.
This is the latest back operation for Abdullah. Last year, he had a procedure done to fix a herniated disc in New York City.
Speaking of New York, Abdullah’s heir, his half brother Crown Prince Sultan, is in the Big Apple at the New York Presbyterian Hospital where he is rumored to be terminally ill. Sultan was treated in the U.S. before for cancer.
The ailments of the monarch and heir is once again raising questions over what will happen to Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil exporter, when both are gone – which could happen in the near future.
King Abdullah has taken numerous steps towards equality for women, such as giving them the right to vote in 2015. But once he dies, his decrees can change. Prince Nayef, who is the Interior Minister and is second in line to monarchy, has very conservative views and has publically said he is against women driving, another issue on Saudi Arabian minds.
Sources: Reuters, NPR
An historic announcement came Sunday for Saudi Arabia – its female citizens will be granted the right to vote for its next elections in 2015. King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud also is allowing women to run for local office and serve on the Shura Council, his advisory board.
 View more images at Daylife.com He made the announcement to the Shura Council, saying, “Because we refuse to marginalize women in society in all roles that comply with sharia [Islamic law], we have decided … to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from the next term.”
“Balanced modernization, which falls within our Islamic values, is an important demand in an era where there is no place for defeatist or hesitant people,” he said.
“Muslim women in our Islamic history have demonstrated positions that expressed correct opinions and advice.”
While many are applauding the King’s latest move to breakaway from the ultra-conservative ways of Saudi Arabia, there are some who are not pleased. Firstly, there are conservatives who disagree with this decree.
There are also women who disappointed that they cannot vote in this week’s elections, and will have to wait four years.
“Why not tomorrow?” asked prominent Saudi feminist Wajeha al-Hawaidar. “I think the King doesn’t want to shake the country, but we look around us and we think it is a shame … when we are still pondering how to meet simple women’s rights.”
Although King Abdullah has advanced women’s status in the desert kingdom since his reign began in 2005, women still cannot drive, can be flogged for adultery, and must be accompanied by a male relative when in public, often with their faces veiled.
But still, the King has built the first co-educational university in the country, and granted 120,000 scholarships for students, many of them female, to study abroad. The only problem with the latter is that the women have to have the permission of a male guardian to travel outside of Saudi Arabia.
Lubna Hussain, a Saudi writer had this to say about today’s decree: “The King is implementing the reform promises he made when he became leader. It shows he is not willing to pander to religious fundamentalists … who are quite weakened and don’t seem to have the voice they used to.”
However, those fundamentalists may not be weakened for long. King Abdullah is ailing at 87 years old, and some of those in line to the Saudi monarchy sympathize with the conservative Wahhabi clerics. Prince Nayif bin Abdulaziz, the interior minister, who is believed to be second in line behind Crown Prince Sultan, is one of them.
Overall, some Saudis see the grant for women to vote as sort of ironic.
“It’s a mixed feeling. On one hand he opens the door for her and on the other hand she is still banned from driving,” said Mohammad Fahad Qahtani, a college professor and human rights advocate. “It doesn’t save her from horrible treatment by government agencies and the courts. It’s a symbolic gesture, but it is in no way enough to improve the lives of women.”
Sources: AP, Los Angeles Times
Human rights activists and politicians are criticizing the University of Indonesia’s decision to award the King of Saudi Arabia with a doctorate degree. While the higher education institution says King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud has made headway with global peace and human rights in his country, there are many who think the King could work on the latter, especially when it comes to foreign workers in the oil rich kingdom.
 Click here for more images at Daylife.com The controversy stems from the recent beheading of Ruyati binti Satubi, an Indonesian maid, who murdered her employer after repeatedly being tortured and abused. A 2011 Human Rights Watch report said other Indonesia migrant workers in Saudi Arabia “frequently endure forced confinement, food deprivation and severe psychological, physical and sexual abuse”.
1.5 million Indonesians work as maids in the country – and there’s 23 of them currently on death row.
So it is understandable that the rector of the University of Indonesia, Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri, is facing strong criticism from Indonesians from all backgrounds. Some professors, alumni and students are calling for his resignation.
However, there are some Indonesians residing in Saudi Arabia, who attended the University, are praising the decision to give King Abdullah the doctorate degree. They point to the King’s charity to children orphaned by the 2004 tsunami that struck Banda Aceh. They also say awarding the King would help Saudi Arabian – Indonesian bilateral ties.
Source: Jakarta Post, University World News
The King of Saudi Arabia returned to the desert kingdom Wednesday after a three month absence. King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was recuperating in Morocco for about a month following back surgery in New York. He was welcomed with open arms by male members of the Saudi royal family. He also ordered handouts to citizens in attempt to prevent any uprising currently being seen across the Arab world.
 REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout The octogenarian King descended from the plane on a lift before taking to a wheelchair at a Riyadh airport. Numerous male dancers doing a traditional Bedouin sword dance performed as part of the welcome-home ceremony.
Saudi Princes, such as Crown Prince Sultan, himself in poor health, hugged and kissed monarch.
Also in attendance was King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain. It is interesting to see him out of his Gulf country, which has seen demonstrations by its majority Shiite population, demanding for governmental reform and even removal of the monarchy.
King Hamad has close ties with his Saudi counterpart, and Saudi Arabia was concerned that what is occurring in Bahrain would spread to its country because of its Shiite minority on the east coast.
 REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout But King Abdullah is back in Saudi Arabia to prevent such an uprising from happening. He ordered a $37 billion handout to help lower- and middle-income people in his country which included rises to offset inflation, unemployment benefits and affordable family housing.
Saudi analyst Turad al-Amri welcomed what he called “a nice gesture” from the King, but other Saudis were not so impressed. “We want rights, not gifts,” said Fahad Aldhafeeri in one typical message on Twitter.
On Facebook, which has helped organize the demonstrations in the Mideast and North Africa, disgruntled Saudis are setting up a “Day of Rage”, scheduled for March 11th. They will call for an elected ruler, greater freedom for women and the release of political prisoners.
There are reports that King Abdullah will organize a new cabinet in order to install reforms.
“They are under pressure. They have to do something. We know Saudi Arabia is surrounded by revolutions of various types, and not just in poor countries, but in some such as Libya which are rich,” said Mai Yamani, at London’s Chatham House think tank.
“Basically what the King is doing is good, but it’s an old message of using oil money to buy the silence, subservience and submission of the people,” she said. “The new generation of revolution is surrounding them from everywhere.”
Ahmad al-Omran, who runs the popular Saudi Jeans blog, had this to say about the King’s handouts and reforms: “People don’t revolt because they are hungry. People revolt because they want their dignity, because they want to govern themselves. Money won’t solve our issues. We need true political and social reform. We need freedom, justice and dignity.”
Source: Reuters
As demonstrations in Egypt intensify, leaders from around the world are speaking out. While most of them are critical of President Hosni Mubarak, the King of Saudi Arabia so far is the only world leader who supports him.
 AP Photo/Saudi Press Agency/HO/FILE Saudi Arabia’s state run news agency reported that King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud believes the protests are influenced by infiltrators, who were “exploited to spew out their hatred in destruction . . . inciting a malicious sedition” and that outside agitators “infiltrated into the brotherly people of Egypt, to destabilize its security.”
“No Arab or Muslim can tolerate any meddling in the security and stability of Arab and Muslim Egypt by those who infiltrated the people in the name of freedom of expression, exploiting it to inject their destructive hatred,” King Abdullah was quoted as saying.
“As they condemn this, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and government declares it stands with all its resources with the government of Egypt and its people,” the Saudi agency added.
Reportedly, the King called Mubarak to express his support on Saturday.
King Abdullah is resting in Morocco following back surgery done in New York.
Source: International Business Times
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia arrived in Casablanca, Morocco Saturday where he was greeted by King Mohammed VI. But the Saudi King is not in the North African country for a state visit; he is there to recuperate from back surgery which he had back in November.
 Maghreb Arabe Presse King Abdullah, age 87, was in New York for the past two months for operations for a blood clot complicating a slipped disc. Until now, he was in an undisclosed location receiving therapy for the procedure.
It is unknown how long Abdullah will stay in Morocco.
His half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan, stayed nearly a year in the same country recovering from cancer treatments until late 2009.
Concern over the health of the King is major on the world stage. Saudi Arabia controls more than a fifth of the world’s crude oil reserves and is a vital U.S. ally in the region as well as a major holder of dollar assets.
When King Abdullah passes, the question would be whether a conservative or a reformer like him will succeed the monarchy.
Source: Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama gave the King of Saudi Arabia a phone call Sunday to congratulate Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud on the progress he has made since his back surgery back in late November.
 REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency-Handout/12.22.10 During his vacation in Hawaii, President Obama called Abdullah “to wish him well, and to congratulate him on the progress that he has made toward a full recovery,”
The 86 year old King spent one month in a New York City hospital before leaving on December 22nd. Following his initial surgery on a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a hematoma that put pressure on his spine, the King received another procedure to repair some vertebrae.
King Abdullah is now at an undisclosed New York location where he is recovering from his operations. It is not known when will he return to Saudi Arabia.
In return for the President’s phone call, the King congratulated Obama for securing Senate approval of a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.
“The president thanked him and told him that he looked forward to working closely together in the coming year,” the White House statement said.
“The two leaders underscored the importance of our bilateral relationship, and agreed to continue cooperating closely on a range of issues.”
Source: AFP
 REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout According to a statement released by the palace in Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud’s back surgery was a success. The King was suffering from a blood clot due to a herniated disc and flew to New York City for the procedure at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
The statement read that the 86 year old King Abdullah’s “back surgery, in which the blood clot was extracted, the slipped disk was corrected, and the injured vertebrae was stabilized…The operation was accomplished successfully.”
The King is currently resting in the hospital. It is not known how soon he will return to his country.
Before leaving Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah temporarily handed over power to his half brother Crown Prince Sultan. The 85 year old heir to the throne had to fly back to Riyadh after spending several months in Morocco, where he recuperated from cancer treatment.
Source: AP
The King of Saudi Arabia arrived on U.S. soil Monday night, where he will receive treatment for a blood clot connected to a slipped spinal disc at an undisclosed facility. The 86 year old King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud left control of the oil-rich kingdom in the hands of his half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan, himself suffering from health problems.
 REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout “His mental faculties reportedly are so poor that he’s no longer able to function at the posts he still holds,” said Simon Henderson, an expert on Saudi Arabia currently with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
This has raised concern over the future of the House of Saud and Saudi Arabia. As the King left for the United States, the country’s officials scrambled to assure the people and the world that all will be well.
“But I assure everyone that the king is in stable condition and enjoys good health and God willing will return in good health to lead this great nation,” Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabeeah said during an appearance on Saudi television.
Still, there are questions on succession issues. Some analysts say Crown Prince Sultan, who suffered from cancer last year, may never become King. The next person in line is Prince Nayef, himself having health issues.
While the royal family keeps family dynamics quiet, there are hints of uncertainty. The House of Saud came to power in the 1930s under the rule of King Abdulaziz, who died in the 1950s. Since then, five of his sons – he had dozens of children from several different wives – have ruled, passing the throne from brother to brother. Problem with that, the brothers have aged and now Saudi Arabia wonders what will happen if a younger generation steps up.
The royals are given the right to rule the country by clerics who follow Wahhabism – the strict form of Islam. Some clerics have not been pleased with King Abdullah’s reforms, which have lightened up restrictions on women and allowed some modernization. This might change when the King dies. 77 year old Prince Nayef, the powerful Interior Minister, has close ties with the clerics and may turn things back the way they were before Abdullah succeeded King Fahd in 2005.
At the same time, the House of Saud faces schisms with the Sudeiri clan, who have blood ties to the royal family. Their link is from Princess Hussa, the mother of King Abdulaziz, and for years the Sauds and the Sudeiris have married one another. However, King Abdullah comes from a different mother. It is possible the Sudeiri may want to see a King who’s mother was one of them come to power.
The House of Saud consists of 7,000 princes.
Source: AP, UPI, Wikipedia
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