Riyadh, October 26: World leaders, both friends and foes, poured into Riyadh to offer condolences on the death of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, who was buried Tuesday in a somber ceremony in the presence of Saudi King Abdullah.
Amid the flashing of cameras, Sultan’s sons and brothers carried his corpse, swathed in a brown shroud, on a bier through a sea of mourners in Riyadh’s sprawling Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque for funeral prayers before burial.
The body of Sultan, who died of colon cancer in New York Saturday, was flown back to Riyadh Monday, accompanied by his younger brother and Riyadh Governor Prince Salman, who may now play a more prominent role in the conservative Islamic kingdom.
Among the mourners who went forward to greet King Abdullah after the prayer recital was Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, whose country is a regional rival of Saudi Arabia.
King Abdullah is expected to name a new crown prince to replace late Prince Sultan as the kingdom’s Interior Minister Prince Nayef, is tipped as the next in line.
The death of Crown Prince Sultan, who was also defense minister, might also lead to a wider Cabinet reshuffle.
Saudi Arabia, which dominates world oil markets and holds profound influence over Muslims through its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, faces turbulence in its neighbors and a confrontation with regional rival Iran.
Prince Nayef is sometimes described by Saudi liberals as an anti-reform conservative, who is likely to take a cautious approach to social and political change, while viewing foreign policy through the lens of national security.
However, former diplomats to Riyadh and some analysts say the man who has served as interior minister since 1975 may show a more pragmatic side as crown prince – and eventually as king.
“Nayef had some time with Sultan’s long illness to run himself in as crown prince and he has acted on behalf of the king,” said one former diplomat. “He has become acquainted with authority across the board.”
King Abdullah was chief mourner at the mosque, where Saudis in red-and-white headdresses were crammed between dozens of pillars behind the kneeling grand mufti as he led prayers.
The Saudi monarch, who left hospital Saturday night after a back operation last week, remained seated for the prayers and wore a surgical mask over his face.
From Egypt – where protesters, backed by the army, ousted Hosni Mubarak earlier this year – military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi flew in for the funeral, Saudi state television Al-Ekhbariya reported.
It is Tantawi’s first trip abroad since he took power in February following the downfall of Mubarak.
Jordan’s King Abdullah, whose government declared a day of mourning Tuesday, also landed in Saudi Arabia, as well as Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court.
Gulf leaders Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of Qatar, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa were all present in Riyadh for the funeral of Sultan.
SPA reported that Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also joined the mourners in Riyadh.
Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Saad Hariri flew in Monday to join the royal family in receiving the prince’s body as it arrived from New York. Hariri was also present at the funeral.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, heading an official delegation, also attended the funeral Tuesday.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were likewise among world leaders heading to Riyadh to offer condolences.
Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa arrived in Riyadh as the Saudi news agency SPA reported that London-based Rifaat Assad, exiled uncle of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, had flown in.
King Abdullah, who is in day-to-day charge of Saudi Arabia despite his old age and back trouble, must also name a new defense minister.
One possible candidate is Prince Khaled bin Sultan, a son of the late crown prince who headed Saudi forces during the 1991 Gulf War and has been a deputy defense minister for 10 years.
The job could also go to Riyadh Governor Prince Salman, seen as the next most senior royal after the king and Prince Nayef.
Given Prince Sultan’s long illness, Prince Nayef, born in 1933, has for many years been seen as the likely new crown prince.
“We need young blood,” said a Jeddah resident in his 50s. “If they appoint another crown prince from [this generation] we will find ourselves in the same position again in a few years because they are all old and we worry that the young ones may later struggle over power.” Nayef’s conservative credentials as head of a ministry that has arrested political activists have disquieted liberal Saudis.
He was also quoted soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States as doubting that any of his compatriots had been involved when 15 of the 19 hijackers were in fact Saudis.
But Saudi-watchers said they anticipated few immediate national policy shifts if Nayef becomes crown prince.
During the long illness of Sultan and absences of the king, Nayef stood in for his elder brothers, meeting world leaders and managing the kingdom’s day-to-day affairs.
——Agencies