King Salman of Saudi Arabia has decided to change the heir to the throne. This is a significant event for Saudi Arabia and the entire Middle East. In any monarchy, the heir to the throne is the second person after the monarch, and depriving him of the right of inheritance is a very large-scale event, not to mention the fact that it must have very good reasons behind it.
Prince Muhammad ibn Nayef
Prince Muhammad bin Nayef Al Saud, who, by decision of King Salman, ceased to be the heir to the throne overnight, became the nephew of the current monarch of Saudi Arabia. Muhammad ibn Naif is no longer young - he was born back in 1959, the prince was approaching sixty. His father, Prince Nayef bin Abd al-Aziz (1933-2012), was the 23rd son of the Saudi King Abdul Aziz bin Abdurrahman Al Saud (1880-1953). Muhammad ibn Nayef had a career in the Saudi security establishment. In 1985-1988 he studied in the United States at special courses of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, then interned at the British Scotland Yard, and in 1999 he was appointed assistant minister of the interior of Saudi Arabia. By the way, from 1975 to 2011. The post of Minister of Internal Affairs of Saudi Arabia was held by his father, Prince Nayef bin Abd al-Aziz. After Prince Nayef became heir to the throne, and Prince Ahmad ibn Abdul-Aziz Al Saud became the new minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Prince Muhammad ibn Nayef received the post of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, and a few months later - the Minister of Internal Affairs of Saudi Arabia. Muhammad ibn Naif maintained this post until recently.
In the 2010s, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef's influence on Saudi politics increased significantly. Firstly, Prince Muhammad ibn Nayef, having been appointed to the post of Minister of Internal Affairs of Saudi Arabia, concentrated enormous power in his hands, gaining control over the repressive apparatus and security services. Secondly, Muhammad ibn Nayef began to play an important role in the foreign policy intrigues of the kingdom, including in policy towards Syria. When octogenarian Salman became the new king of Saudi Arabia on January 23, 2015, replacing his deceased brother King Abdullah, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef was appointed deputy crown prince. In Saudi Arabia, such a position exists to dispel doubts about the strength of the vertical power structure and the preservation of the principle of inheritance. In this capacity, the influence of Muhammad ibn Nayef increased even more; he began to chair the Saudi Political and Security Council, which determined the foreign policy line of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. Thus, it was Muhammad ibn Nayef who began to directly supervise Saudi actions in Yemen, where the KSA began carrying out Operation Storm of Determination. In an effort to win support in the West, Prince Muhammad ibn Nayef spoke a lot about the need to actively fight terrorism and emphasized his desire to deal with terrorist groups in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East as a whole with an “iron hand.”
On the other hand, Muhammad ibn Nayef has always been very wary of the activation of Iran and the Iranian arms build-up program. This circumstance also contributed to the growth of the prince’s popularity in the West. In the United States, the prince was even called “the most pro-American” among Saudi politicians. And this despite the fact that the kingdom’s security services, subordinate to the prince, pursue a fairly tough line of repression against dissidents - from supporters of radical fundamentalist organizations to the Shiite minority, which the Saudis consider the Iranian “fifth column”.
King Salman
However, the huge Saudi royal family has never been free from internal contradictions and conflicts. The first king of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz, had 45 children, ensuring the succession to the throne passed from brother to brother. The current King of Saudi Arabia, Salman, is also the son of Abdul Aziz. Naturally, there was always a relationship of competition between the sons and then the grandsons of Abdul-Aziz - both for the throne and for government positions. Considering the polygamy and large number of children of the Saudi kings and princes, there are currently several thousand representatives of the Saudi surname in the country - according to various sources, the number of princes and princesses is close to 5-7 thousand people. Relatives of the late first king of Saudi Arabia occupy most of the country's most important government positions - both in civilian departments and in the security forces. The transfer of the throne from brother to brother provided the opportunity to experience the role of king for almost all of Abdul Aziz’s elderly sons. However, given their age, it becomes clear that in a few more years, the princes of a new generation will have to take power in Saudi Arabia. People like Muhammad ibn Naif.
But members of the family of King Salman always competed with Muhammad ibn Nayef. In 2011-2012 The crown prince of Saudi Arabia was Muhammad's father, Prince Nayef. It was he who was supposed to take the royal throne after the departure of his older brother King Abdullah. However, Naif, a man far from young, had a number of diseases. On June 16, 2012, he died. Therefore, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was proclaimed crown prince under King Abdullah. After Abdullah's death in 2015, Salman became the king of Saudi Arabia. In the West, they expected a balanced policy from him, but under Salman in KSA, measures to suppress the opposition only became more stringent. For example, the famous Shia preacher Nimr al-Nimr was executed, which led to the final breakdown of Iranian-Saudi relations. Salman was to be succeeded by Prince Muqrin ibn Abdul-Aziz Al Saud (born 1945), the youngest of the children of King Abdul-Aziz, who served in his youth in the Royal Air Force. However, on April 29, 2015, Salman changed the order of succession to the throne and relieved Muqrin of his duties as crown prince. So Muhammad ibn Naif became the heir.
Apparently, not all “titans” of Saudi politics liked the activity of Muhammad ibn Nayef. Four attempts were made on the prince's life. Responsibility for them was claimed by various radical groups associated with Al-Qaeda (banned in Russian Federation), however, it is possible that they could also be backed by internal forces interested in eliminating a dangerous competitor. Muhammad ibn Nayef became too serious a political figure, gaining not only influence on Saudi politics, but also worldwide fame.
Prince Muhammad bin Salman
On January 23, 2015, when Prince Salman became the king of Saudi Arabia, the post of KSA Minister of Defense passed to his son, 29-year-old (at that time) Muhammad bin Salman Al-Saud. Thus, Prince Muhammad bin Salman became the world's youngest defense minister. The very appointment of the young prince to such a responsible post indicated that Muhammad bin Salman would play an important role in Saudi politics in the very near future. Having headed the military department of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman was involved in Operation Storm of Determination, which was strategically important for the kingdom in Yemen. The overall leadership of this operation was carried out by Prince Muhammad ibn Nayef, with whom ibn Salman, of course, entered into a competitive relationship. Apparently, at first, Muhammad ibn Nayef, an experienced almost sixty-year-old politician, did not consider the thirty-year-old Muhammad ibn Salman as a serious opponent.
However, behind the latter there were very influential forces - both his father, King Salman, and the royal entourage, who hoped to push aside the growing power of Muhammad ibn Nayef. In April 2015, Muhammad bin Salman was appointed deputy to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef. With this appointment, King Salman showed that the younger generation of the Saudi dynasty would soon come to power.
In addition to the post of minister of defense of the kingdom, Prince bin Salman concentrated several other key positions in his hands, including heading the economic council under the government, which gave him the opportunity to control the economic and financial policies of Saudi Arabia. Thus, in the hands of the young and promising prince, two most important levers appeared at once - power (Ministry of Defense) and financial and economic (Economic Council). Soon in the West, the young prince was even nicknamed “Mr. Everything,” hinting that Ibn Salman controls almost all the most important areas of Saudi policy.
Muhammad Ibn Nayef and Barack Obama
Muhammad ibn Naif, who actively participated in foreign policy Saudi Arabia, for a long time had not only business, but also friendly relations with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani. Saudi Arabia interacted with Qatar during the Arab Spring of 2011, in Yemen, in Syria. However, the rivals of Muhammad ibn Nayef, who sought to remove him from the post of crown prince and prevent a quick transition to the throne (after all, King Salman is already 82 years old), decided to act precisely in the foreign policy field in order to influence the position of the king and achieve a replacement of the heir. Qatar was chosen as a target, and a convenient time was the coming to power of the new President Donald Trump in the United States. Considering that Muhammad ibn Nayef was on good terms with former US President Barack Obama, his competitors from the Salman clan decided that it would be more convenient to act under Trump. If the country is in a situation of serious conflict with neighboring Qatar, then how can the crown prince be a friend of the Qatari emir? After all, this directly threatens the interests of Saudi Arabia. But the deterioration of relations with the neighboring emirate made it possible to achieve the removal of Muhammad ibn Nayef from the post of crown prince.
An unprecedented campaign against Qatar has begun. For the first time in decades, Saudi Arabia opposed not Shiite Iran or secular Arab regimes like Syria, but the equally Sunni monarchy of the Persian Gulf, its longtime ally. A diplomatic blockade of Qatar was launched, to which KSA forced Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt and a number of African states, dependent on the Saudi financial assistance. Qatar was declared the main sponsor of terrorist groups in the Middle East - apparently in the expectation that Washington would make its contribution to neutralizing the Qatari emir. But Donald Trump and his administration generally remained fairly indifferent to the Qatari-Saudi conflict. But several regional powers of the Middle East “fit in” with Qatar at once - Turkey, Pakistan and even Iran, which Saudi Arabia is simply not able to resist on its own or with the support of its small allies. Therefore, the Qatari crisis itself began to decline. Riyadh became convinced that the United States was not interested in a blockade of Qatar, soberly assessed its strengths and saw that the Islamic world did not at all agree with the position of the Saudis. However, the main internal political goal of the Qatari crisis was achieved. On June 21, 2017, King Salman decided to strip Muhammad bin Nayef of his status as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
Salman appointed his son, 32-year-old Prince Muhammad bin Salman, as the new crown prince. The young and active Ibn Salman, of course, has less influence and less fame than his cousin Ibn Nayef, but he is full of strength and ideas. In particular, Ibn Salman, while still deputy crown prince, announced the need to overcome the oil-based nature of the Saudi economy. He voiced his own plan for the economic and social development of Saudi Arabia, which implies a gradual overcoming of the country's economic focus on oil exports.
The main income of the Saudi kingdom, according to Prince bin Salman, should not be natural resources, but investments - and the prince expects to develop this program in the near future. Muhammad bin Salman's desire to reform the Saudi economy is understandable. The fall in oil revenues has led to serious financial consequences for the kingdom. The government even had to cut the kingdom's budget by 25% and reduce subsidies for gasoline, electricity and water, which had previously been very generous. The emergence of new taxes is also expected, including “luxury” taxes and drinks with high sugar content, which are very popular in Saudi Arabia.
Naturally, reducing the political influence of Muhammad ibn Nayef became strategic task number one for the young prince and his entourage, since in the event of Salman’s death and the transfer of the throne to Muhammad ibn Nayef, the prince’s ambitious plans might never be realized. But now the fears have disappeared - Salman has changed the crown prince and this means that in the foreseeable future Saudi Arabia may get a very young monarch.
No sooner had Saudi King Salman returned to Riyadh after his visit to Moscow than amazing events began in the Wahhabi kingdom. First, the media reported about the arrest of 11 princes on corruption charges, then about dozens of detained officials, and all this against the backdrop of panic over a ballistic missile from Yemen that fell near the Saudi capital. The icing on the cake was the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri - live during a broadcast from Riyadh..
The rich have their own quirks
A few days ago, media around the world published footage of a group of men lying on mattresses in the lobby of the five-star Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh. There might have been nothing special about this - you never know what quirks the Saudi rich have - if not for their personalities. These are 11 Saudi princes, including the son former king and some of the country's richest people, whose fortunes amount to billions of dollars. The princes were arrested on charges of bribery, embezzlement, transferring government contracts without tenders and money laundering just hours after the heir to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman, created a special anti-corruption committee and appointed himself its head.
The people greeted the arrests with delight: citizens are sure that the local elites, down to the last person, are involved in shadowy schemes. The hashtag “The King fights corruption” has become the most popular in the Saudi segment of the Internet.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Mass detentions and interrogations are now taking place across the kingdom. Dozens of people are under suspicion: former ministers and officials. The operation is personally led by Prince Mohammed. As often happens, under the guise of fighting corruption in the kingdom, the struggle for power is in full swing.
Bring the country together with love
Prince Mohammed bin Salman is 32 years old. He is ambitious and likes to act quickly, unexpectedly and decisively. And most importantly, he is determined to increase his power and is ready to do a lot for this - an important quality, given that there are up to 7 thousand princes in the kingdom, each of whom, at least theoretically, has the right to the throne. To understand how this situation came about, you need to understand how the Saudi succession system works.
The first king of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, had 12 wives. And the point is not that the monarch was particularly loving: by marrying representatives of tribes, clans and influential families, he cemented the unity of the newly created state.
At the time of Abdul-Aziz's death, 36 of his sons from different spouses were still alive, and inheritance was carried out within this generation according to age and as a result of agreements within the family: first one royal son, then the next, and further down the list. Many of the offspring chose to leave the queue, going into business, others were rudely pushed out of there, someone gave up their place to their half-brother in exchange for substantial compensation. Half-brothers formed clans within the ruling Al Saud dynasty. The most powerful among them are the Sunayan and Sudairi clans - the children of King Abdul-Aziz from Iffat al-Sunayyan and Hassa Al-Sudairi, respectively.
The sons of Hassa, nicknamed the “Sudairi Seven,” until recently remained united, fiercely defending their positions. Under the eldest of the seven, King Fahd, who reigned from 1982 to 2005, the clan’s position strengthened significantly. However, after the death of Fahd, Abdullah, a man without a clan, the only son of Abdul-Aziz and Fahda Ashur, became king, largely thanks to control over the national guard. During Abdullah’s reign, the position of the “seven” was shaken: the king became close to the Sunayan clan. At the same time, the Sudairi retained the post of crown prince in their hands. The trouble is that the years passed and gradually the first generation of princes turned into a group of very elderly people: during Abdullah’s tenure on the throne, two crown princes from the Sudairi clan - first the Sultan, then Naif - died of old age.
If Abdullah had outlived the third crown prince from the Sudairi clan, Salman, this chain would have been broken. The crown prince would be Muqrin, the son of a Yemeni concubine. When Abdullah finally died, Muqrin would have taken the throne, but most likely one of Abdullah's 10 sons would have ruled behind him - most likely Prince Mutaib, whom the Saudi media for several years in a row created a reputation as a progressive politician capable of changing the future of the country .
There is no alternative
But history took a different path. Abdullah died before Salman, and the Sudairi Seven returned to power. The new monarch almost immediately changed the system of succession to the throne, appointing his nephew, the son of Naif's brother, Muhammad, as his successor. Just two years later, King Salman's son, also Mohammed, decided it was time to concentrate power in one hand. On June 21, 2017, he was named crown prince by royal decree, effectively leading the country and governing on behalf of his 81-year-old father, who is believed to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
And now Mohammed bin Salman struck a decisive blow. Although they tried to keep the names of the detained princes secret, very soon the news of who exactly was under attack spread throughout the kingdom. Among those taken into custody is Mutaib ibn Abdullah, the son of the former monarch and the heir to the throne who never happened. Until recently he was a minister national guard, controlling this security agency. During the current operation to defeat the palace opposition, the current crown prince clearly took this factor into account: all National Guard posts were removed and replaced by special forces soldiers, and army armored vehicles were pulled up to the guardsmen’s barracks.
In addition, the news came surprisingly in time that in the south of the country, on the border with Yemen, a helicopter crashed, on board of which was Prince Mansur ibn Muqrin, the son of that same Muqrin, who never became king. He was on an inspection tour. The causes of the disaster have not yet been reported, but rumors have already spread that the car did not fall by accident.
Fire on allies
There is no doubt that Mohammed bin Salman will find a use for this money (unless, of course, the billionaires manage to withdraw it from the country in the near future). The young crown prince conceived a global restructuring of the entire Saudi state and society in order to make the kingdom a leader in the modern world.
“It’s not just about “Vision: 2030” - the project of deep reforms that Muhammad presented back in January 2016,” says Grigory Kosach, professor of the Department of Modern East of the Russian State University for the Humanities. - Recently, speaking at international conference“Investing in Saudi Arabia,” the Crown Prince spoke about the project of the city of the future Neom, a huge industrial zone in the territories of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Muhammad promised that the kingdom would return to a moderate Islam open to the whole world, all religions and all peoples, that the dominance of the religious establishment would be ended, and that the country would eventually become not a religious state, but a state with a state religion. The current operation is primarily an attack on the religious establishment, which does not see the point in socio-economic transformations.”
But among the princes taken into custody there are no religious conservatives: the opposition in the ranks of mullahs and theologians was purged back in September. Now the blow fell not by conservatives, but by people who think in a Western manner. Mohammed bin Salman is cracking down on his like-minded people - those who advocate large-scale reforms, but are not ready to carry them out quickly and decisively, as the crown prince wishes.
“We are talking about a group of princes and officials, including former head Ministry of Finance, which are grouped around Mohammed bin Salman's predecessor as crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, who was removed from this post six months ago and, according to rumors, has since been under house arrest, says Kosach. “This group does not believe that sudden revolutionary changes in Saudi Arabia are possible, but advocates a slow and consistent movement towards solving the problems facing the state.”
Prince Mohammed bin Salman is rushing to take the kingdom off the oil needle, turning Saudi Arabia into a center of advanced industry and high technology. Perhaps not only because prices for black gold are now far from the coveted hundred per barrel, but also because he simply does not know how to do otherwise. The prince prefers to cut Gordian knots rather than untie them. In domestic policy Such tactics had brought him success more than once, but on the outside it invariably turned out to be a failure.
The rocket glowed as it fell
On March 25, 2015, Saudi planes launched missile and bomb attacks on the territory of neighboring Yemen: this began a large-scale military operation aimed at returning President Hadi, who had been exiled by rebels, to power. The order to start the operation was given by King Salman, but Prince Mohammed is said to be its main initiator. The prince succeeded in a record short term assemble a coalition involving the Gulf countries and Egypt. The full might of the combined forces fell on the Shiite Houthi rebels and troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The first strike destroyed almost all Yemeni air defense systems. The forces were so unequal that foreign observers gave the Houthis a maximum of a couple of months to resist. 2.5 years have passed since then, and the Saudis and their allies are still far from victory.
Burnt buildings in the Yemeni capital Sana'a are the result of a bombing by the Saudi Arabian Air Force. After a Yemeni missile was shot down on approach to Riyadh airport, coalition aircraft carried out a retaliatory strike.
Photo: Global Look Press/Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed
Despite the colossal superiority in forces, the Saudi coalition managed to oust Saleh's forces only from the south of the country, where the population was already dissatisfied with his rule. Even the intervention of the American PMC Academi did not help - the number of dead coalition soldiers is in the hundreds, the Saudis and their allies are losing planes, helicopters and warships. The Houthis have even moved the fighting into Saudi Arabia, regularly attacking Saudi garrisons in border provinces and launching missile attacks on military targets.
On Saturday, October 4, a ballistic missile launched by the Yemenis was shot down as it approached the airport in the Saudi capital. This event caused complete hysteria in Riyadh - the kingdom's Foreign Ministry called the incident an act of aggression on the part of Iran and threatened a merciless response. Riyadh has long said that behind the Houthis is the main enemy of the Wahhabi kingdom - Shiite Tehran, which supplies them with weapons, and accuse the Islamic Republic of large-scale expansion in the region - in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Bahrain.
Another of Mohammed's adventures - a diplomatic war against small but influential Qatar - also failed. The Saudis again assembled a coalition, declared a boycott on Qatar, and blocked communication with it by land. But contrary to Riyadh’s expectations, the Qataris are not starving and are ready to continue the confrontation until the Saudis give up their unrealistic demands. The only thing Riyadh achieved was losing one ally and demonstrating its weakness.
Now it appears that Prince Mohammed has decided to compensate for previous failures with a major victory.
Menacing text, pale appearance
On the night of October 4, Lebanese channels suddenly interrupted their regular programming for an emergency statement from Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The head of government addressed the people from Riyadh, where he was on a visit. Hariri was noticeably nervous and read his speech from a piece of paper.
“Wherever Iran gets involved, it brings with it discord, destruction and devastation - just look at the fruits of its interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries,” Hariri accused. “But the evil that Iran is sowing in the region will turn against itself. Iranian hands in the region will be cut off."
The prime minister announced that Iranian intelligence services were preparing an assassination attempt on him (his own security immediately denied this information), so he was forced to remain in Saudi Arabia for the time being. There is little doubt in Lebanon that the speech read by Saad Hariri was written in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh decided to open a new front against hostile Iran, striking at its ally Hezbollah, which had seriously strengthened its position during the Syrian conflict. Saudi politicians are counting on once again plunging Lebanon, where another round of internal confrontation has barely ended, into a state of chaos - just to prevent the strengthening of Iranian influence in this country.
The Saudis have long maintained contacts with Hariri - the prime minister, in addition to Lebanese citizenship, even has Saudi citizenship. Relations cooled in 2016, when Saad, in order to lead a government of national unity, agreed to include several ministers associated with Hezbollah in the cabinet. This decision turned out to be fatal: in less than a year, Hezbollah managed to almost completely crush the government. Hariri had a choice - to come to terms with this or return to his old friendship with the Saudis. He chose the latter.
The resignation of the prime minister means that the appearance of agreement established in Lebanon will come to an end in the near future. Following the announcement of Hariri's resignation, Sheikh Nasrallah, Hezbollah's secretary general, announced that his organization was the only guarantor of stability in Lebanon. Given the huge volume of internal contradictions in the country, this stability is unlikely to be lasting.
Prince Mohammed is now playing a risky game. Salman's son is used to victories on the domestic front, but now he finds himself in dangerous situation: His grandfather maintained the unity of the country through a dozen marriages, his father through consensus among princes. He does not have these supports: with his accession (and it may follow very soon), all clans, families and tribes will be removed from power, and Muhammad will only have to rely on his small clan and the support of the people thirsting for reforms. But the sympathies of the crowd are fickle.
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (2012-2015).Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia (2011-2015). Emir of Riyadh (1963- 2011).
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was born on December 31, 1935 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The boy was the twenty-fifth son of ibn Saud. The mother was Hassa Al Sudairi. Elementary education received at the Princes' School in the city of Riyadh, which was established by Ibn Saud for his children. Studied religion and modern science. Memorized the complete Qur'an at the age of ten. At the age of eighteen, his father, King Abdul Aziz, appointed him as his representative and emir (mayor) of the city of Riyadh in March 1953.
Since 1954, Salman ibn Abdul has been the acting mayor of the city of Riyadh. In 1955, he took the position of mayor of Riyadh. From 1963 to 2011, he served as governor of the province of Riyadh.
In accordance with the rules of succession of power in the Saudi kingdom, the throne is transferred to ruling family from brother to brother according to seniority. To regulate the process of transfer of power by inheritance, the Oath Council was created in 2006, which, in the event of the death of the king, enthrones an heir and appoints the next crown prince.
Since 2011, he has headed the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia. Since 2012, he has been Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister, retaining the position of Minister of Defense. Salman ibn Abdul was congratulated on receiving the title of Crown Prince Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing the hope “that the activities of the Crown Prince will contribute to the comprehensive development of Russian-Saudi relations in the interests of the peoples of the two countries, peace and stability in the Persian Gulf area and the Middle East as a whole.”
In March 2014, King Abdullah said that Salman's health was a serious concern and he might even refuse to lead the country. In June 2014, Salman met with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, who arrived in Saudi Arabia, who conveyed the best wishes to the heir from the Russian president. Salman, for his part, called the relations between the two countries good.
Under Salman, the legal status of women in the country has changed. By his decree of September 26, 2017 the king allowed women to drive cars. Before this, since 1957, women were deprived of this right, which led to protests.
King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud October 4, 2017 went on a state visit to Russia. The leaders reviewed joint steps to further enhance bilateral cooperation in the trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres.
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud January 23, 2015 took over as King and Prime Minister after the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah. He is the seventh king of Saudi Arabia. Salman announced Prince Muqrin, who holds the position of deputy head of the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia, as the heir to the throne.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin October 14, 2019 arrived in Saudi Arabia on a state visit that will last several days. The Russian President is expected to discuss with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ways to strengthen strategic cooperation between Riyadh and Moscow in all areas of mutual interest.
Awards for Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Order of King Abdulaziz
Order of King Faisal
Grand Cross of the National Order of the Niger
Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (Spain)
Chain of the Order of the Aztec Eagle
Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (Guinea)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile
Order of the Turkish Republic, 1st class
Order of Zayed
Order of al-Khalifa
Order of Mubarak the Great
Order of the Crown of Malaysia
Order of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia
Order of the Crown of Brunei
Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum
Order of Hussein ibn Ali 1st class
Order of the Lion (Senegal)
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st degree
Family of Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Father - Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdurrahman Al Saud.
Mother - Hasa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi.
First wife - Sultana bint Turki Al Sudairi. She died at the age of 71, at the end of July 2011. She was the daughter of Salman's maternal uncle, Turki ibn Ahmad Al Sudairi, who was one of the former governors of Asir province. Children:
Prince Fahd (1955-2001).
Prince Sultan (born 1956).
Prince Ahmed (1958-2002).
Prince Abdulaziz (born 1960).
Prince Faisal (born 1970).
Princess Hassa (born 1974).
Second wife - Sarah bint Faisal Al Subai-ai.
Son - Prince Saud (born 1986).
Third wife - Fahda bint Falah ibn Sultan Al Hitalain.
Children:
Prince Muhammad (born 1985).
Prince Turki (born 1987).
Prince Khalid (born 1988).
Prince Naif.
Prince Bandar.
Prince Rakan.
Salman's eldest son from his first marriage, Fahd bin Salman, died of heart failure at 47 in July 2001. Another son, Ahmad bin Salman, died after a heart attack in July 2002 at 43.
His second son, Sultan bin Salman, became the first royal, the first Arab and the first Muslim to fly into space. Abdul Aziz bin Salman, another of his sons, has been deputy oil minister since 1995. Faisal bin Salman is the governor of Al-Madinah province. One of his younger sons, Muhammad, was his personal adviser in the Ministry of Defense. Turki bin Salman became chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group in February 2013, replacing his older brother Faisal bin Salman.
The current king of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud sat on the throne in January 2015 after the death of his half-brother. A couple of days after this, he issued a decree that shocked not only the residents of the country, but the whole world. It talks about monetary compensation for government employees, pensioners, and students in the amount of two months' payments totaling $30 billion.
Moreover, the same document states that approximately 500 thousand civilian prisoners will be forgiven fines of more than 500 thousand Saudi riyals(which equals approximately 133 thousand dollars). Also, the new ruler decided to expel all foreign prisoners from the country with a subsequent ban on entry into the kingdom, thus deportation would replace prison for them.
In the same decree, the newly-minted king allocates 20 billion dollars for the construction of new structures to provide the population with drinking water and electricity. This is far from all. Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud allocated funds to all literary clubs registered in the country, as well as to the clubs of the Super League of the Saudi Arabian Football Championship 10 million rials each, to the teams of the first league – 5 million rials each, and to all other clubs - 2 million Saudi riyals each. however, this is far from the last payments of the generous monarch to the population. The king also provided rewards to all citizens receiving social benefits and people with disabilities.
In addition, the ruler issued a decree according to which the Ministry of Social Protection should allocate 2 billion rials to all registered charitable foundations, the Association of Solidarity Cooperatives - 200 million rials, and all registered associations unions - 10 million rials each. You will be amazed, but the ruler of such a strict and canonical Muslim country communicates with the public on the Internet.
So, on his Twitter account, he posted a post asking Allah to help him in serving his country and people. These are the words that the king had on the page:
"No reward will repay the services of my people."
It is worth noting that the people instantly reacted to such activity of the new leader of the country: in two hours the king’s post was retweeted more than 175 thousand times.
By the way, thanks to this tweet, Salman immediately became one of the top users of this social network. In just six days, 760 thousand Twitter users subscribed to him. At the moment, the total number of subscribers to the king’s account is 1 million 860 thousand. In general, King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud publicly declares that he will try to continue the policy of his late brother.
How do you feel about such unprecedented generosity of the new ruler of Saudi Arabia?
A little information about the king
Salman ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud is the king of Saudi Arabia, custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and head of the Al Saud dynasty. Became king and prime minister on January 23, 2015 after the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah.
Salman is the son of the first king of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, and the sixth of the Sudairi Seven, he was the most trusted advisor to King Fahd and the closest brother of the Crown Prince Sultan. Before ascending the throne, he was Minister of Defense (2011-2015) and Governor of Riyadh Province (1963-2011).
Place of birth. Education. Born on December 31, 1935 in Riyadh, becoming the 25th son of Ibn Saud, his mother was Hassa Al Sudairi. Together with six brothers, Salman formed the so-called “Sudairi Seven”. He was brought up in the Murabba Palace. He received his primary education at the Princes' School in Riyadh, which was established by Ibn Saud for his children. Salman studied religion and modern science.
When Prince Salman was 18 years old, his father, King Abdulaziz, appointed him as his representative and emir (mayor) of Riyadh in March 1953. Later, in April 1955, King Saud appointed him mayor of Riyadh with the rank of minister. Salman resigned from this post in December 1960.
In February 1963, Salman was appointed governor of the province of Riyadh. he served in this position for 48 years, from 1963 to 2011. As governor, he contributed to the transformation of Riyadh from a medium-sized city into a major metropolis. he was involved in attracting tourists and investments to the country. he maintained geopolitical and economic relations with the West.
During Salman's governorship, his advisors were young, highly qualified technocrats recruited from King Saud University. In January 2011, he ordered action against beggars in Riyadh “who are trying to take advantage of people’s generosity.” All foreign beggars were deported, and local beggars underwent a rehabilitation program at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
In November 2011, Prince Salman was appointed Minister of Defense. he replaced his deceased brother, Crown Prince Sultan, in this post, and Prince Sattam was appointed governor of Riyadh. Salman also joined the National Security Council. In April 2012, he visited the United States and Great Britain, where he met with US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Al Akhbar newspaper argued that Salman's appointment was due to his ability to reconcile and diplomatic talents, his belonging to the middle generation (which allowed him to mediate between fathers and sons in the royal family) and his wide acquaintances m in the Arab world and the international sphere (established in time in office as governor).
Shortly after the death of his brother, Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Prince Salman was appointed Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as well as Deputy Prime Minister in June 2012. Reuters viewed his appointment as a signal that King Abdullah's cautious reforms are likely to continue. Saudi reformists have said that Prince Salman will take a more diplomatic approach to opposition figures, unlike other members of the royal family, but he cannot be considered a political reformer. They also said that, like King Abdullah, Prince Salman would focus primarily on improving the economic situation rather than political change.
As the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Salman became Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and King of Saudi Arabia on January 23, 2015, immediately after the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah. At the same time, Salman's other half-brother, Muqrin ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud, became crown prince and deputy prime minister. Salman's nephew, Prince Mohammed bin Naef Al Saud, was appointed deputy crown prince and second in the line of succession to the Saudi throne.
In August 2010, Salman underwent spinal surgery in the USA. he survived a stroke, and despite physical therapy, his left hand works worse than the right one. Following his appointment as crown prince, various analysts, including Simon Henderson, claimed that he was suffering from dementia. In addition, it is believed that he suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
Family. Salman ibn Abdul Aziz was married three times. His first wife was Sultana bint Turki Al Sudairi, who died at the age of 71 at the end of July 2011. She was the daughter of Salman's maternal uncle, Turki ibn Ahmad Al Sudayri, who was one of the former governors of the province of Asir. Salman's children from this marriage are Prince Fahd (born 1955), Prince Sultan (born 1956), Prince Ahmed (born 1958), Prince Abdulaziz (born 1960), Prince Faisal (born 1970) and Princess Hassa (born 1974).
In his second marriage to Sarah bint Faisal Al Subai-ai, he had a son, Prince Saud.
In his third marriage to Fahda bint Falah ibn Sultan Al Hitalain - Prince Mohammed, Prince Turki, Prince Khalid, Prince Naif, Prince Bandar and Prince Rakan. Salman's eldest son from his first marriage, Fahd bin Salman, died of heart failure at 47 in July 2001. Another son, Ahmad bin Salman, died after a heart attack in July 2002 at age 43.
His second son, Sultan bin Salman, became the first person of royal blood, the first Arab and the first Muslim to fly into space. Abdul Aziz bin Salman, another of his sons, has been deputy oil minister since 1995. Faisal ibn Salman is the governor of Al-Madinah province. one of his younger sons, Mohammed, was his personal adviser in the Ministry of Defense. Turki bin Salman became chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group in February 2013, replacing his older brother Faisal bin Salman.
On January 23, 2015, the oldest sitting monarch in the world at that time, the King of Saudi Arabia, who had reigned since 2005, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, died of a pulmonary infection in Riyadh.
The king's approximate age was 91 years old, he had three dozen wives and more than forty children.
United State
The very name of this largest state comes from the ruling dynasty in the country. The ancestors of the Saudis have been known since the 15th century, and from the mid-18th they began the struggle to create single state. In this struggle they relied on various currents of Islam, including Wahhabism. To achieve victory, the Saudis entered into agreements with foreign countries- including with Great Britain and the USA, as was already the case in the 20th century.
Before Saudi Arabia acquired its current state and political structure, there were two unsuccessful attempts to form a Saudi kingdom: in 1744 under the leadership of Mohammad ibn Saud and in 1818, when Turki ibn Adallah ibn Muhammad ibn Saud became the ruler of the Arabian lands, and later his son Faisal. But by the end of the 19th century, the Saudis were expelled from Riyadh to Kuwait by representatives of another powerful family - the Rashidi.
Founder of the royal dynasty
At the beginning of the new twentieth century, among the Saudis who wanted to create a unified Arabian state under their rule, a young man appeared who was attracted to weapons and military science more than to religious treatises or the subtleties of Eastern philosophy. His name was Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdu-Rahman ibn Faisal Al Saud or simply Ibn Saud - the first king of Saudi Arabia.
Starting with one of the provinces - Najd - relying on the teachings of “pure” Islam, making the basis of his army the Bedouins, whom he taught to settle down, at the right time relying on English support, using the technical and scientific achievements of the new century - radio, cars, aviation, telephone communication - Abdul Aziz in 1932 became the head of the powerful Islamic State. Since then, Saudi Arabia has been led by successive representatives of one family: Ibn Saud and his six sons.
Center for the Islamic World
Among the magnificent epithets that are awarded to the autocratic ruler of the Saudi kingdom, there is one of the most significant titles in the Muslim world - “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.” The King of Saudi Arabia owns two main cities for devout Muslims - Mecca and Medina, in which the main shrines of Islam are located.
It is towards Mecca that Muslims turn their gaze during daily prayers. In the center of Mecca there is the Main, Sanctuary, Great Mosque - Al-Haram, in the courtyard of which there is the Kaaba - the “sacred house” - a cubic building with a Black stone built into one of its corners, which was sent by Allah to the prophet Adam, and which was touched by the prophet Mohammed. These shrines are the main objective, which the pilgrim performing the Hajj strives for.
Medina is the city where the second most important mosque for Muslims is located - Masjid an-Nabawi - the Prophet's Mosque, under the green dome of which is the burial place of Mohammed.
The King of Saudi Arabia, among other things, is the person who is responsible for the safety of Muslim shrines, for the life and safety of the huge masses of people - those who perform the Hajj.
Son of the Eighth Wife
The founder of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, was a true eastern ruler: numerous wives, of which there were several dozen, gave birth to 45 sons-heirs. Ibn Saud's eighth wife was Fahda bint Aziz Ashura, whom he took as his wife after her first husband was killed by the Saudis - worst enemy Abdel Aziz is the ruler of one of the Arabian emirates named Saud Rashidi. It was she who gave birth to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died in January 2015 and left a noticeable mark on the history of the monarchy.
When in 1982 Abdullah was to be declared crown prince by right of seniority, his half-brother Fahd, who ascended the throne, thought for a long time: all the Al-Sauds who ascended the throne were born of one, beloved wife of Ibn Saud - Khusa from the Sudeiri clan. Nevertheless, Abdullah, whose mother belongs to a different family - Shamar - became king, and he became the de facto ruler long before the official coronation (2005): he became prime minister in 1995, when Fahd retired, becoming disabled after a stroke.
If I were a Sultan...
Life at all levels looks unusual for a European. It's hard to imagine a leader European country, who would have been married 30 times, like King Abdullah.
Saudi Arabia is a country where a man cannot have more than 4 wives living in his house; this is how the family life of the Saudi king was organized. Abdullah is a father of many children; in total, he had about four dozen children, of whom 15 were sons.
Abdallah spent his childhood among the Bedouins, which influenced the monarch’s hobbies - until recently he spent a lot of time in Morocco, where he practiced falconry, and his stable of racehorses was known throughout the world.
The basis of well-being
Anyone who today sees the capital of SA - Riyadh - or even photos showing the inside of the plane of the King of Saudi Arabia, will find it difficult to imagine that at the time of its formation in 1932, Saudi Arabia was one of the poorest countries in the world. At the end of the 1930s, enormous oil and gas reserves were discovered on the Arabian Peninsula. The development and development of fields was given to American oil companies, which at first took most of the profits for themselves. Gradually, control over oil production passed to the state, that is, petrodollars became the basis of the wealth of the Saudi kingdom.
The Saudis are playing main role in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which controls about two-thirds of the world's oil reserves. The influence of the Saudi monarchs on the formation of prices for hydrocarbons determines their importance in world politics. It changed throughout the 20th century, but steadily increased.
King - reformer
It is impossible to imagine the possibility of sudden changes in the foreign policy and internal structure of a country where an autocratic monarch is in power, where you can pay with your head for criticizing government decisions, where there is no legislative body: laws are royal decrees. All the more curious is the glory of the king-reformer that King Abdullah was awarded. Under him, Saudi Arabia experienced some relaxation - both in the strictness of Eastern etiquette and in the harsh attitude towards women traditional for Islam.
One of the first decrees of the 6th King of the Saudis abolished the ceremony of kissing the royal hand, replacing it with a more democratic handshake. The most important decision for Abdullah was to prohibit members of the royal family from using state funds for personal needs.
A real revolution was the establishment of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology near the city of Jeddah, where co-education of girls and boys was allowed. No less sensational was the appointment of a woman to a government post: Nora bint (bint is an analogy of the male bin - “son”) Abdullah bin Musaid Al-Faiz became deputy minister for girls’ affairs. The admission of women to some species made the image Saudi king even more attractive to supporters of democratic reforms. The allocation of significant funds for studying abroad has made SA even more open to the world.
King Abdullah's daughter, Princess Adilla, became the face of the conservative system of government. The wife of the Minister of Education, a beautiful, confident woman, is perceived by many as a symbol of renewal, although there is no talk of a radical revision female role in Islam.
Traditions are unshakable
Still, the main thing for the ruling family in the kingdom is the sanctity and immutability of traditions based on compliance with Sharia norms.
Women for "inappropriate behavior" or frivolity in dress, cutting off a hand for theft, severe punishment for fortune telling as "witchcraft", etc. are common practices in the life of Saudi society.
Such traditions include the ostentatious luxury surrounding the Saudi royal throne. From a technical point of view, the personal plane of the King of Saudi Arabia is the most reliable aircraft of the late 20th century, but in terms of its interior decoration it looks like the fairy-tale palace of the Sultan from the Arabian Nights fairy tales.
And this applies to the numerous villas, yachts and cars owned by the royal family.
One of the wealthiest monarchs
It is almost impossible to accurately calculate the personal wealth of the monarch, especially in a country as closed to foreigners as Saudi Arabia. Figures are quoted from $30 to $65 billion. In any case, this is not a poor man, even if you take into account the number of members of the royal family. There is someone there to spend petrodollars - the wives of the king of Saudi Arabia form an impressive harem, although formally the Koran forbids having more than four. We have to actively use the institution of divorce, which in the East is devoid of unnecessary formalism.
Family matters
Today's world is a continuous process of information exchange, conducted at the most different levels. At the end of 2013, an interview appeared in British newspapers with the daughter of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Princess Sahara. It alleged that she and her three sisters had been under house arrest for 13 years by their father.
Newspapers and news portals published stories about the morals of the royal harems. Sahara’s mother was also involved in them - ex-wife King of Saudi Arabia. A photo of Al-Anud Daham Al-Bakhit Al-Faiz, who at the age of 15 became Abdullah's wife, and ten years later was deprived of her daughters and expelled after a divorce, added drama.
This scandal brought special attention to the problem of discrimination against women in the Muslim world. Articles about the terrible inequality between men and women in Saudi society have flooded the print and electronic media. Particularly popular were photographs of the King of Saudi Arabia's plane, a symbol of the medieval style of government based on unbridled luxury.
But it turned out that not everything is so simple, the world is still multifaceted. Another wave rose. Activists of Islamic organizations, including many women, with no less passion accused journalists and politicians of trying to impose their morality on a society that they do not deign to be self-sufficient. The protest against the aggressive imposition of Western views on the lifestyle seemed just as sincere and justified.
The king is dead, long live the king
Today, on the throne in Riyadh, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is the seventh king of Saudi Arabia. The photographs of the new ruler differ little in the eyes of a European from those taken during the life of King Abdullah.
The history of the Saudi state continues.