King is dead, long live the king

Kings of Saudi Arabia, unlike constitutional rulers of Great Britain, are absolute monarchs and ruled the kingdom with unlimited authority since the founding of the dynasty by King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud in 1932. There is no elected body to participate in the running of the affairs of the oil-rich kingdom, and demand thereof is largely muffled out of fear of repression. However, that is generally the case with other hereditary rulers of the Gulf States.

The unending stream of the members of the royal family, leaders of the community and ordinary citizens to greet the new monarch in person demonstrated the traditional custom designed to reassure the new potentate of the allegiance and loyalty of his subjects. The large royal family in an admirable display of solidarity and adroitness had settled the issue of succession well in advance through consultation, shrouded under strict secrecy. That factor along with the fact that Crown Prince Abdullah acted as the de-facto ruler of the kingdom during the decade-long illness of the King eased the process of succession without hindrance.

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The late King and the new one were made of two distinctive elements. Firstly, they belonged to two different mothers, Fahd being the offspring of the Sudairi mother whose sons have ascended the throne of the kingdom since the death of their father, King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the founder of the Kingdom, in 1953. Even the successor of the new King, Crown Prince Sultan, is one of the seven Sudairi Princes. One may recall that King Ibn Saud was blessed with 42 children from an unrecorded number of wives. King Abdullah has the Bedouin blood flowing through his veins from his maternal ancestors. That explained the difference in the character of the two brothers. The late King Fahd liked to lead an extravagant life, particularly during his young days. He was quite unlike his predecessors and brothers, all of whom were reputed to have led a less ostentatious but religious life. Fahd after being king, in deference to the religious overtone of the holy land, took the title, "Servant (Custodian) of the two Holy Mosques and the Ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." But it is interesting to recall that his brother King Faisal once had to send a special aircraft to fetch young Prince Fahd back from Monte Carlo, the playground of the rich and the spoiled.

King Abdullah, at the age of 81, enjoys good health and is reported to be more popular than his other Princely brothers. It is principally because of his Bedouin origin. Bedouins are universally recognized for their strong adherence to ethical principles and their legendary anecdotes of hospitality. Abdullah still enjoys spending days and nights in the desert in what is called "khima" or tent. Obviously, ornate and elaborate air-conditioned camping contraptions as well as fleets of Cadillacs and Pajeroes used at present in contrast with the traditional tents made of black shrouds and camels used for transportation in yester years vividly demonstrate the differences caused by changing technology and opulence. Prince Abdullah commanded the National Guards, composed of fierce Bedouin warriors, who were ready to sacrifice their life at the slightest will of their masters. This strength was, however, counter balanced by his successor to be, Prince Sultan, who heads the Ministry of National Defense and commands a large establishment of well-trained and well-equipped armed forces.

When I went to pay a courtesy call on Prince Abdullah after having set up the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia as Minister Charge d'Affaires in January, 1976, he was then third in line of succession. To my delightful surprise, he listened attentively to the rationale of the birth of Bangladesh, appeared quite moved and offered two dozen finest Arab horses for Bangladesh as his personal gift. He said that to a Bedouin the prized possession was his horses, and he wanted to present some of his horses to the suffering and needy people of Bangladesh as a token of love and brotherhood. While thankfully acknowledging his generous gift, I was wondering instead of this touching gesture if I received a pledge of some financial help for the reconstruction of our war-ravaged country, our government would have been happy and people immensely benefited. But I hid my inner feelings and parted my ways with the desert Prince, both looking happy and contented. However, the civilian Finance Minister, Abba-al Khail, later pledged funds to meet our reconstruction and development needs, and agreements were soon concluded for the first Saudi financial aid to Bangladesh to the tune of $220 million. But the gift of horses, which were later used in the Sardah Police Training College, still remains the pioneer of the multi-faced co-operation we are proud to have received from Saudi Arabia.

The death of King Fahd does not portray any change in the domestic and foreign policy of Saudi Arabia. The principal reason thereof was that it was the policy of the new King that was pursued during his decade-long de facto rule. But the rule of the two brothers evidently witnessed some significant phenomena worth reckoning. During the period Fahd was able to rule personally, relations with the United States were still marked by a strong link of friendship, understanding and a degree of mutual dependence in several fields. United States still maintains in the Middle East the largest contingent of its troops and war materials in the kingdom, which was the major springboard of attacks against Iraq during the Gulf war. Besides, Saudi Arabia is the major supplier of oil to the oil-starved USA and Europe and, in return, enjoys protection of its financial interests and political security.

The Kingdom's traditional relations with the West, the Muslim Ummah and Bangladesh will undergo no fundamental change with the changeover at the apex. But the fact that Saudi national Bin Laden and his compatriots being the architect and perpetrators of the most devastating act of terrorism of 9/11, indeed, caused some cleavage in the country's relations with the USA. On the other hand, serious terrorist attacks on American interests in the kingdom in recent years testify to the simmering discontent of disgruntled elements coming out in the open. The emerging relations with the West in the post 9/11 scenario as well as the urge for establishing democratic values and actions of religious extremism in the kingdom will now form the major issues and will pose a litmus test for the new Saudi King for his ability to demonstrate wisdom, skill and the much needed display of pragmatism both to his people and to the international community.

M.M.Rezaul Karim, a former Ambassador, is a member of BNP's Advisory Council.