Rattlesnake Ridge 
BFF
The clock is ticking and time is running out for the combatants to position themselves. Here is a summary of the turf wars and how the Saudi pie is being split now among the “next” generation (meaning those in their 70’s and up):
- The crown prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz is seriously ill and highly unlikely to become king. He spends his time between an undisclosed location at home and American hospitals and Moroccan recuperation. He has appointed his son Khaled as deputy defense minister, meaning he is to inherit the ministry as well as becoming the minister of aviation and inspector general (recalling Danny Kaye now).
- Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz is next in line and almost certainly the next king. He is a seriously conservative man and is against any type of elections. He famously said a couple of years ago that “Elections can never produce good people of the quality that we appoint” (and that was long before the Tea Party gained control of the U.S. Congress!). He is the minister of interior, in charge of police and security and secret police and terrorism and arrests and prisons and prisoners without charges and whatever goes in the dark cells. He has appointed his son Mohammed as a deputy minister, meaning he is to inherit the ministry when the father either becomes king or dies, whichever comes first.
- Then there is the king himself and he is no slouch when it comes to his interests and the interests of his children. Abdullah was head of the National Guard, a parallel army, since forever. Last year he appointed one of his sons to replace him as head of the Guard. Thus the king has staked the permanent claim of ‘his’ branch of the al-Saud clan.
- That leaves the Foreign Ministry, forever headed by Prince Saud al-Faisal. He is reportedly ailing without a clear heir. At one time there were two apparent claimants competing for the ministry, or at least there seemed to be, until King Abdullah appointed his son Abdulaziz as Deputy Foreign Minister, thus staking the claim of his own ‘branch’ of the al-Saud clan. Now Abdulaziz has the inside track as compared to Prince Turki al-Faisal brother of the current minister (and the wittiest prince, at least in public) and Prince Bandar Bin Sultan (of the famous BAE Systems bribery case that Tony Blair covered up). The foreign ministry is interesting because has become an area of unexpected competition and turf war. I had assumed it was the private reserve of the al-Faisal clan until Bandar made his move and then Abdullah appointed his own son. Apparently Bandar is a restless type, for he has reportedly made many moves inside and outside the kingdom and was allegedly involved in some palace plots. Apparently all the BAE Systems bribe money has given him more time and funds to pursue his ‘hobbies’. He was even reported at one time to be active in Iraq (not physically, but financially among the Sunni tribes and others). The foreign ministry truly reflects the current territorial infighting among the al-Saud branches: if Abdullah dies before the minister leaves, his son is not guaranteed the top job.
What is at stake is: (a)the future of the throne, (b)the allocation of the petroleum loot among the hungry numerous princes, and (c)power within the top leadership that control the various ministries/fiefdoms.
That is on the ministry or ‘functional’ level. Then there is the real estate, the various provinces, each presided over by a senior al-Saud prince. A prince is the absolute ruler of his province even as he claims allegiance to the king in Riyadh. Does it remind you of Europe in the Middle Ages? Yes, I have read Ivanhoe more than once, read it the first time in Arabic when in ninth grade (Isaac of York, the Jew, would probably be some wayfaring Shi’a from the Eastern province).…….
Did I hear you mention something about “the people” of the Arabian Peninsula? OH, yeah, they were once among the freest peoples of the whole world……….
Cheers
mhg
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