King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies
A source told CNN’s Nic Robertson that Fahd died Sunday evening. His burial is scheduled for Tuesday at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT) in Riyadh.
The former Crown Prince Abdullah, Fahd’s half brother, has been named the new Saudi king and Defense Minister Prince Sultan has replaced Abdullah as crown prince.
“King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has chosen Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz as Crown prince in accordance with Article 5 of the basic system of government,” a statement from the Saudi royal court said.
“Allegiance will be paid by the public to King Abdullah and Prince Sultan after the noon prayers on Wednesday.”
The Saudi monarch had been in and out of the hospital in recent months, most recently suffering from pneumonia-like symptoms. Fahd yielded day-to-day control of the kingdom a decade ago after suffering a stroke, with Abdullah serving as the de facto ruler since then.
Interesting - I didn’t expect the succession to go so smoothly. (Hat tip: Dean’s World)
There’s rampant speculation that it didn’t - that in fact he’s been dead for months and they held back the news until the succession issues were all ironed out. Don’t know how much stock to put in those rumors, but they’re definitely intriguing.
Comment by Russell Newquist — 1 Aug, 2005 @ 12:00
I’ve kind of wondered about that too - especially considering the reports that he died a while back (that were quickly removed and denied…).
Comment by Kathy K — 1 Aug, 2005 @ 12:32