The death of the heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud, has led to an urgent debate over the succession in the oil-rich state.
Sultan, who was in his 80s, had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer in New York, although Saudi TV, which announced the death today, only said he had died "abroad".
The younger half-brother of Saudi Arabia's frail and ailing leader, King Abdullah, Sultan was also deputy prime minister and defence minister, in charge of one of the biggest arms budgets in the world. He leaves multiple widows and 32 children.
The most likely candidate to replace him as Abdullah's successor is Prince Nayef, a member of the most powerful of the Saudi ruling families.
Nayef, 78, is the Saudi interior minister, in charge of the security forces, and is close to Islamic ultra-conservatives. He was directly involved in the decision in March to send soldiers into neighbouring Bahrain to help crush pro-reform demonstrations. » | Tracy McVeigh | Sunday, October 23, 2011
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