RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - October 22, 2011
Sultan was the younger half-brother of Saudi Arabia's King
Abdullah, who is has also been ailing and underwent back surgery
last week.
The most likely candidate to replace Sultan as Abdullah's
successor is Prince Nayef, the powerful interior minister in charge
of internal security forces, who is said to be closer to Islamic
conservatives than the king. The king gave Nayef - also his
half-brother - the implicit nod in 2009 by naming him second deputy
prime minister, traditionally the post of the second in line to the
throne.
State TV announced that Sultan died abroad, without specifying
where. Saudi official circles in Riyadh said he passed away at a
hospital in New York. According to a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable
from January 2010, Sultan had been receiving treatment for colon
cancer since 2009.
Sultan, who was also deputy prime minister and defense minister,
struggled with health issues for years, though officials never
confirmed he had cancer. He underwent surgery in New York in 2009
and spent nearly a year abroad recuperating in the United States
and at a palace in Agadir, Morocco, before returning to the
kingdom.
The palace said the king, with "deep sorrow" mourns "the loss
of his brother and Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan
Abdul-Aziz Al Saud," the palace said. The statement, carried on
the official Saudi Press Agency, added that Sultan's funeral will
be held Tuesday at a Riyadh mosque.
For the first time the mechanism of picking the next crown
prince is not entirely clear - though the end result is in any case
likely to be Nayef.
It is possible the king will for the first time put the decision
of his heir to the Allegiance Council, a body Abdullah created as
one of his reforms, made up of his brothers, half-brothers and
nephews with a mandate to determine the succession. That would open
the choice up to a degree of debate within the top echelons of the
royal family.
Traditionally the king names his successor. Abdullah formed the
council in order to modernize the process and give a wider voice in
the choice.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed
American condolences, and her British counterpart William Hague
said he was saddened to hear of the death. Britain's Prince Charles
sent his condolences in a personal letter to the Saudi king.
"The crown prince was a strong leader and a good friend to the
United States over many years as well as a tireless champion for
his country. He will be missed," Clinton said from Tajikistan on a
Central Asia tour. "Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is strong
and enduring and we will look forward to working with the
leadership for many years to come."
Saudi Arabia has been ruled since 1953 by the sons of its
founder, King Abdul-Aziz, who had over 40 sons by multiple wives.
But that generation is getting up in years. Nayef is 78, and the
youngest of the Abdul-Aziz sons seen as qualified to rule were born
in the 1940s.
Sultan's death comes amid questions about the king's health.
Last week, King Abdullah underwent back surgery in Riyadh. The SPA
news agency said the operation was to treat a loose vertebra in his
back. Abdullah also had two back surgeries late last year in New
York City.
Anyone who rises to the throne is likely to maintain the
kingdom's close alliance with the United States.
But it would have an internal impact. Abdullah has been a
reformer, making cautious changes to improve the position of women
- such as granting them to right to vote in elections scheduled for
2015 - and seeking modernize the kingdom. That has brought some
backlash from the ultraconservative Wahhabi clerics who give the
royal family the religious legitimacy needed to rule.
Nayef, in contrast, has a reputation for closer ties to the
clerics.
If Nayef is named crown prince, it could stoke tensions between
those backing Abdullah's changes and those opposing any deviation
from the kingdom's strict interpretations of Islam.
Nayef led an aggressive crackdown on Islamic militants who
opened a campaign of bombings in the kingdoms following the Sept.
11, 2001 attacks - in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi
Arabia.
He also maintains a hard line against regional rival, the Shiite
power Iran, claiming earlier this year that Tehran was encouraging
protests among Saudi Arabia's minority Shiites. Nayef was deeply
involved in the kingdom's decision in March to send military forces
into neighboring Bahrain to help crush pro-reform demonstrations
led by tiny island nation's majority Shiites against its Sunni
rulers - which Gulf Arab leaders accuse of having ties to Iran.
In August, Nayef accepted undisclosed libel damages from
Britain's newspaper The Independent over an article which accused
him of ordering police chiefs to shoot and kill unarmed
demonstrators in Saudi Arabia.
Sultan was long seen as a powerful aspirant for the throne. When
Fahd became king in 1982, Sultan had hoped to be named crown
prince. But instead Fahd appointed their half-brother, Abdullah.
Sultan challenged that decision, but in the end the sons of
Abdul-Aziz closed ranks, aware that a direct confrontation with
Abdullah could tear the family apart.
When Fahd died and Abdullah ascended to the throne, Sultan was
named crown prince and heir.
Sultan was the kingdom's defense minister in 1990 when U.S.
forces deployed in Saudi Arabia to defend it against Iraqi forces
that had overrun Kuwait. His son, Prince Khaled, served as the top
Arab commander in operation Desert Storm, in which U.S., Saudi and
other Arab forces drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait.
In May 2004, the royal court announced that Sultan was
discharged from a Jiddah hospital after an operation to remove a
cyst from his intestines. In a rare move, Saudi television showed
footage of the prince, dressed in a traditional white robe and
sitting in an armchair, receiving greetings from a number of Saudi
dignitaries. A few days before that, state-guided media showed
photos of the prince in his hospital bed, apparently to counter
rumors about his health.
Sultan was born in Riyadh in 1928, according to the defense
ministry's website. But official reports vary, some say he was born
in 1931, others have him as being 85 years old.
As defense minister, Sultan closed multibillion deals to
establish the modern Saudi armed forces, including land, air, naval
and air defense forces.
On more than one occasion, the deals implicated several of his
sons in corruption scandals - charges they have denied.
Sultan is survived by 32 children from multiple wives. They
include Bandar, the former ambassador to the United States who now
heads the National Security Council, and Khaled, Sultan's assistant
in the Defense Ministry.
---
Associated Press Writers Maggie Michael in Cairo and Brian
Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Saudi crown prince dies, opening succession issue
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