Day one for new Saudi king shows challenges at home and abroad

RIYADH — Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz began his first day on the job with a crisis.

Just hours before he was named king following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Yemeni president, appointed through a Saudi-led initiative, resigned under pressure from rebels the Gulf Arabs say are backed by their main rival, Iran.

It highlighted the tests the new king faces. There’s the rising influence of Iran as the country pursues talks with the US that could lead to its international rehabilitation. At home, King Salman takes the helm of the world’s largest oil exporter after a more than 50 per cent plunge in the price of crude.

“Of all the kings Saudi Arabia has had, King Salman’s ascension to the throne comes at the worst time in the history of the kingdom,” Mr Kamran Bokhari, adviser for Middle Eastern and South Asian affairs at Texas-based consulting firm Stratfor, said by telephone from Toronto. “He comes in with so many domestic and external challenges.”

King Salman, born in Riyadh in 1935, is about the same age as his predecessor, when he became monarch. The late King Abdullah, born in 1924, was carried into a mosque yesterday (Jan 23) before his burial.

While crown prince, King Salman took on more responsibilities as Abdullah’s health failed, chairing cabinet meetings and representing his country at functions abroad.

DECISIVE KING

His first action as king was to appoint a deputy crown prince, putting an end to speculation about whether the succession to a younger generation of Saudi princes would proceed smoothly. His choice was his nephew, Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who led the country’s crackdown on al Qaeda militants in the kingdom a decade ago.

“He’s quite decisive,” said Mr Ford M Fraker, president of the Middle East Policy Council, who served as US ambassador to the kingdom from 2007 to 2009.

King Salman will keep cabinet ministers in their place, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, a sign he will maintain the status quo at least in the short term.

“There’s a good chance there won’t be much change for the foreseeable future,” said Mr Toby Matthiesen, research fellow at University of Cambridge and author of two books on Saudi Arabia. “He’s been so long in the decision-making apparatus.”

Mr Matthiesen said appointing Prince Mohamed shows an emphasis on security given the violence in the region and the jostling for influence with Shiite Iran.

YEMEN, SYRIA

In Yemen, Shiite Houthi rebels have become the dominant force in the capital.

The breakdown of Yemen risks increasing lawlessness that allowed al Qaeda to flourish. Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed this month’s attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 people. In 2009, it tried to assassinate Prince Mohamed by implanting a device inside a suicide bomber’s body cavity.

In Syria, the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels whom the kingdom supports militarily and financially have failed to dislodge President Bashar al-Assad, an Iranian protégé.

Saudi Arabia is also fighting Islamic State militants as part of the US-led coalition and is trying to keep the threat of extremism and the unrest sweeping the Arab world outside its borders. Falling oil prices, though, are straining its budget.

The price of Brent crude declined 54 per cent in the past six months as the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut production. Iran, whose exports are curbed by sanctions, is revising its draft budget to assume a base price of US$40 (S$53.79) and halting some projects.

THROWING MONEY

Less money in Saudi coffers would limit the kingdom’s ability to resolve some of the problems, said Mr Bokhari at Stratfor. When the Arab Spring erupted in 2011, King Abdullah unveiled a US$130 billion spending plan, including allowances for government workers and salary increases for military personnel.

“Saudi Arabia’s traditional way of dealing with challenges is throwing money at them,” Mr Bokhari said. “The question is which is more important, that you have more money to deal with the multiplying crises or bankrupting Iran?”

King Salman is one of the influential brothers known as the Sudairi Seven, the sons of the kingdom’s founder, King Abdulaziz Al Saud, and one of his wives, Hassa bint-Ahmed al-Sudairi.

Seven kings have ruled since the formation of the kingdom in 1932. King Salman was appointed defence minister in 2011 and was chosen by Abdullah as his successor a year later.

RIYADH GOVERNOR

He served as the governor of Riyadh for more than five decades. During his tenure, the city was transformed from a desert oasis into a thriving modern capital of 5 million people, with office towers, sprawling villas and malls bulging with designer boutiques and stores selling the latest gadgets.

King Salman yesterday appointed his son Prince Mohamed as defence minister. Other sons include Prince Sultan, who flew into space as a payload specialist on the US shuttle Discovery in 1985, and Prince Abdulaziz, who is deputy oil minister.

One relationship that will remain solid is that of Saudi Arabia and the US, said Mr Fraker, the former ambassador.

King Salman is “extremely well known to US officials” and enjoys talking about how it was his father with Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945 who cemented the bond, he said. “That story is very important to the senior royals and they look to that as the foundation of the relationship.” BLOOMBERG