Saudi king appoints half brother as heir to throne

[al-Hasani]

Yemen is a different. Houthis is a Shia branch, Suuni doesn't like Shias and you never fought al Qaeda, it was US operation.

Go ahead...the old man is dying soon and something is not right there according to your "Suuni Arab" bretheren. Give it time and keep barking

Yemen is mountainous territory and the Houthi's are very skilled fighters. ISIS would get massacred if they tried to invade KSA from Iraq. The only highlands are in the Northern Provinces of KSA. Not in Iraq outside of the extreme western part of Al-Anbar that ironically borders KSA and Jordan. Anyone can see that by looking at a simple topographic map. But no cities there outside of Rutbah. Besides that will never happen.

KSA has one of the most potent air forces not only in the region but the world. What do you think would happen to a few columns of ISIS once they would be stupid enough to cross into Northern KSA which is monitored 24/7? Make a wild guess, Einstein.

Houthis are Zaydi Shia's who are closer to Sunni Muslims of the Shafi'i fiqh than to the Twelver Sect members that can be found in Iran, Azerbaijan and Southern Iraq.

No Americans fought Al-Qaeda anywhere in KSA. KSA has one of the best intelligence services and cooperates with all the most important countries of the world in terms of anti-terror operations. You know nothing.

You are going to die as well one day. Maybe sooner than King Abdullah.

Who cares about ISIS lunatics? I am happy that all the few hundreds misguided scum are dying outside of our borders.

 

[Shah9]

KSA has one of the most potent air forces not only in the region but the world. What do you think would happen to a few columns of ISIS once they would be stupid enough to cross into Northern KSA which is monitored 24/7? Make a wild guess, Einstein.

Cool story bro. When was the last time you confront a real army that rule a full sovereign nation? To me, the last time I remembered that GCC got beaten badly by Irak alone in no more than a minute so you guys brought 33 countries to go "superman" mode instead

 

[al-Hasani]

Cool story bro. When was the last time you confront a real army that rule a full sovereign nation? To me, the last time I remembered that GCC got beaten badly by Irak alone in no more than a minute and brought 33 countries to go "superman" mode on you intead

Since when did Iraq invade anything more than small Kuwait that had no military back then nearly?

You inventing history again? It's a typical trait of you deluded Farsis.

Since when does ISIS control a whole sovereign state?

It's called Iraq.

It's indeed a very cool story to have one of the most potent air forces in the world. Unfortunately for you it is not something you can say.

Those that paraded in abu ghraib got killed yesterday ( Ministry of defence confirmed )

I highly doubt the authencity of this news. The government is hiding the real number of casualties of the Iraqi Army which is close to 2000 for them not to lose morale. It's been a mess for them largely due to the poor command, experience, desertions, no air superiority and retarded tactics. Going fully retarded when not ready was a big mistake in enemy territory.

Also I doubt that they suddenly killed 200 people or so over night. In any case not the topic.

The cretin @Shah9 started it.

 

[doritos]

I highly doubt the authencity of this news. The government is hiding the real number of casualties of the Iraqi Army which is close to 2000 for them not to lose morale. It's been a mess of them largely.

Also I doubt that they suddenly killed 200 people or so over night. In any case not the topic.

1000, 2000, 3000, 500 everyone throws his guess, MoD has not released any official numbers.

There were no 200 people, just 20-40

 

[al-Hasani]

1000, 2000, 3000, 500 everyone throws his guess, MoD has not released any official numbers.

There were no 200 people, just 20-40

In any case they are retards. Ramadi is a complete mess. So are many areas of Western Baghdad and the upland there.

@Shah9 for your information then Muqrin has a long past in intelligence. He was one of the masterminds behind the war against Al-Qaeda 10 years ago.

Should ISIS be stupid enough to attack KSA, which will not happen, then they will deal with him.



Since you have such a huge obsession and interest of the great and ancient Arab world then I do expect you to be able to understand a world language like Arabic (in the top 5 of most spoken languages in the world) and since your own native tongue has nearly half of its words originating from Arabic you might understand something!

 

[al-Hasani]

Saudi Arabian Prince Muqrin named second-in-line to succeed king

Saudi Arabia's second deputy Prime Minister Muqrin bin Abdulaziz carries an unidentified child during the traditional Saudi dance known as ''Arda'' at the Janadriya culture festival at Der'iya in Riyadh, February 18, 2014.

​

BY ANGUS MCDOWALL
RIYADH Fri Mar 28, 2014 12:01am IST

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, a former intelligence chief in the conservative Islamic kingdom, has been appointed deputy crown prince, making it likely he will one day become king.

The appointment makes Muqrin, the youngest son of the kingdom's founder King Abdulaziz al-Saud, next in line to succeed King Abdullah in the world's top oil exporter and birthplace of Islam after his half-brother Crown Prince Salman.

"Prince Muqrin is granted allegiance as deputy crown prince, a crown prince if the position becomes vacant and to be given allegiance as king of the country if both the positions of crown prince and king become vacant at the same time," a royal court statement said.

The announcement gives more assurance to the kingdom's long-term succession process at a time when Riyadh sees itself as being an island of stability amid conflict and political turmoil across the Middle East.

U.S. President Barack Obama visits Riyadh on Friday to meet King Abdullah at a time of frosty relations between the old allies over their differing approaches to the multiple crises afflicting the region.

U.S. Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks appear to show Muqrin as sharing Abdullahs's views that Western countries should take a strong line against Shi'ite Iran, which they see as pursuing an expansionist agenda in Arab countries.

In a 2009 cable, he was quoted telling diplomats that the Shi'ite crescent where the Muslim sect has traditionally held sway was in danger of "becoming a full moon" thanks to Iranian support for its coreligionists at the expense of Sunnis.

In the same cable, which recorded a conversation soon after Obama took office, he said of the new president, "I like his attitude", before adding "he'll meet the facts later... many people are not as good-hearted as he is".

Saudi criticisms of Obama's Middle East policy have revolved around their concerns that the White House has not stood up strongly enough to Iran or its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

FIGHTER PILOT

Muqrin, who trained as a fighter pilot in Britain in his youth, is seen as likely to continue the cautious economic and social reforms begun by King Abdullah, say analysts.

"He reads books. He's into music and art. I think he is from the more moderate school of Saudi politics," said Jamal Khashoggi, head of a television news station owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

King Abdullah turned 90 last year and Crown Prince Salman is 78.

Muqrin already holds the position of second deputy prime minister, a role to which he was appointed a year ago and was traditionally but informally seen as being equivalent to crown prince in waiting.

However, there is no formal line of succession in Saudi Arabia beyond the king and crown prince and some analysts had speculated that it would pass to another member of the ruling family. The role of deputy crown prince is a new creation.

Under rules governing the succession, drawn up by King Abdullah a decade ago, a new monarch is empowered to select an heir himself from within the ruling al-Saud family, so long as an internal council agreed to his choice.

Crown Prince Salman and that family body, the Allegiance Council, have accepted Muqrin as the deputy crown prince, SPA reported, indicating he will automatically become Salman's heir when King Abdullah dies.

Muqrin, a graduate of the British Royal Air Force Academy and former military pilot, was born in 1945 according to the Saudi embassy in Washington. He has also been governor of Hail and Medina provinces and a special adviser to King Abdullah.

By making Muqrin second-in-line to rule, King Abdullah is also delaying the moment when the al-Saud must make the difficult decision over how to move the succession to the next generation of the family.

As Muqrin is younger than some of his nephews who might otherwise qualify to become crown prince or king, his appointment would appear to rule them out of the running.

"It will be instructive in due course to see who follows Muqrin in the eventual line of succession as that is when the shift to the grandsons of King Abdulaziz will have to take place," said Kristian Ulrichsen, Gulf expert at the U.S.-based Baker Institute.

The fact the Allegiance Council formally agreed to the appointment is also significant. Set up by King Abdullah in 2006 to help clarify the kingdom's opaque succession process, it was not formally used in the appointments of either Crown Prince Salman or his predecessor, the late prince Nayef.

That had led some analysts to question whether it would ever become an effective instrument of decision making in the ruling family.

(Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi, Yara Bayoumy and Stephen Kalin, Editing by Janet Lawrence and Angus MacSwan)

Saudi Prince Muqrin named second-in-line to succeed king| Reuters​

 

[Rahi812]

Doesnt the Al Saud Family have people in mid 40s-50s who could possibly become king
coz frankly its weird that while the emperor is 90, his Crown Prince is 79 and the Heir to the throne is 69

Anyone of them could be the first to die of old age

I think age is not a big issue in this game of thrones, the issue is their selection system. The Saudi Royal family hasn't learned anything from the current world affairs.
This Saudi political system is sucking their whole country.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

1000, 2000, 3000, 500 everyone throws his guess, MoD has not released any official numbers.

There were no 200 people, just 20-40

Hopefully the circle of violence will be put on hold by the time the elections are over.