They say only the good die young…and on an unrelated note Saudi King Abdullah b. Abd al-Aziz died earlier today at age 90 (or so; his exact birthdate appears to be up for debate). Rest in Peace.
He’s succeeded by his middle-aged brother Salman (79), and the new heir apparent is the positively youthful Prince Muqrin (69). Meanwhile a whole lot of Saudi sons and nephews, brothers and cousins, started thinking of new ways to stab each other in the back. Muqrin, you see, is the last of Abd al-Aziz b. Saud’s sons who is likely to succeed to the throne, so after him the crown probably goes to somebody in the next generation, and it’s not really clear who that will be or how smoothly his succession will go.
I may have more to say about this tomorrow.
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 