A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Crown Prince Sultan of Saudi Arabia Dies (1928?-2011)

It's past midnight on a Friday night and I won't try to analyze, but in the past half hour to an hour there have been multiple reports, some very credible, that Saudi Crown Prince Sultan, about 83, has died in a New York hospital. (Confirmed by Royal Decree a few minutes ago.) Since King ‘Abdullah just had back surgery a few days back, the death of the Crown Prince (and First Deputy Prime  Minister,  Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General of the Armed Forces) comes at an awkward time, especially for those who worry that Interior Minister Prince  Nayef will now formally become the heir apparent, which he already is informally.

This could be a fox-in-the-henhouse moment for the House of Saud. More when more is known.

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