THE GUARDIAN: Saudi succession issue after Crown Prince Nayef's death adds to state's problems such as Shia unrest and youth joblessnessSaudi Arabia's King Abdullah prepared to bury his former heir, Crown Prince Nayef, on Sunday before naming a new successor at a challenging time for the world's top oil exporter and self-styled steward of Islam.
The crown prince's body arrived in Jeddah a day after his death, where it was met at King Khaled airport by a host of Saudi princes. Among them was the most likely candidate to take the position to succeed the 89-year-old king is Prince Salman, 76, another son of Saudi Arabia's founder Abdul-aziz Ibn Saud.
The new crown prince will become heir to a king who is aged 89 at a time when Saudi Arabia faces a variety of challenges at home and abroad.
Although the interior ministry, which the late Nayef headed for 37 years, crushed al-Qaida inside Saudi Arabia, its Yemeni wing has sworn to topple the ruling Al Saud family and has plotted attacks against the kingdom.
Saudi rulers are also grappling with unrest in areas populated by the Shia Muslim minority and with entrenched youth unemployment.
The kingdom is also locked in a region-wide rivalry with Shia Iran – the party at the airport included former Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri, representing the Sunni Muslim political alliance that Saudi Arabia cultivates against Iran. » | Reuters in Riyadh | Sunday, June 17, 2012
