Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Tackling region's myriad ills
The new succession law, announced recently by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, establishes for the first time a specific mechanism for smooth transition of power in the Kingdom, an outspoken member of the royal family has said.
- By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 November 11, 2006
- Image Credit:
- Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi royal family member.
Riyadh: The new succession law, announced recently by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, establishes for the first time a specific mechanism for smooth transition of power in the Kingdom, an outspoken member of the royal family has said.
"Under the new law, in the event of the death of a king, the crown prince will be named as the king by the sons of Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdul Aziz," Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz told Gulf News in an exclusive and wide ranging interview.
"This right will be passed on to his grandsons after the death of all of the [King Abdul Aziz's] sons," he added.
Observers have long expressed concern over the mechanism by which the leaders of the kingdom would address the future challenges of rulership as most of the first-generation princes are old. King Abdullah is believed to be in his 70s, as are most of his brothers.
Royal family members
Prince Talal said the new system "has won accolades" from various sections of Saudi society.
However, he denied that the reason for issuing the new succession law was dictated by the events during the last years of the late King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz who suffered from deteriorating health. But he said it was one of the factors.
"This matter was in the consideration of everybody. The health condition of King Fahd was not the only reason. The condition of King Fahd and what had happened in some Gulf countries might have accelerated the issuance of the decree," he said while reemphasising the fact that the idea of the "Succession Law" was first mooted by King Abdullah himself.
He also questioned the credibility and motives of reports in mostly "Western media" about the affairs, and even the numbers of the members of the royal Al Saud family.
During the centenary celebrations of Saudi Arabia's foundation four years ago, he said, "a number of qualified Saudi researchers were appointed to look into this matter meticulously, and subsequently a book in both Arabic and English languages was published in this respect.
"We are all surprised to see the outcome of the research and statistical analysis that ultimately put the number of royal family members at 5,114 since the foundation of the first Saudi government by Imam Mohammad Bin Saud up to 2004. They include women and children, and there could be either an increase or decrease of 10 per cent in the figures."
What about their financial assets? Prince Talal was eager to shed some light.
"Those who are outside the country say that the royal family draws nearly 26 or 27 billion Saudi riyals from the public exchequer in a year. Some others say the family holds one-third of the oil revenues.
"Therefore, we carried out studies about this and had asked specialists and concerned officials to reveal the reality in this case, and found out that the real figure was much less only five per cent of what is being touted abroad.
Iran's N-programme
"All these exaggerated figures have, naturally, prompted citizens, who have a right to this wealth, to ask about the huge amount purportedly possessed by the royal family. All these are false charges and they have nothing to do with reality."
With Iran's nuclear programme moving forward, Prince Talal, who is also president of the Arabian Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organisations (AGFUND), ssaid the security of the Gulf region was being threatened by "Iran's nuclear ambitions".
He explains: "Iran wants to possess nuclear weapons not to deter America, the West or Russia. That is an impossible thing to do. The real goal is known to everybody that is to become a commanding power in the Gulf region."
He also warned of a nuclear arms race in the region if Iran possessed these weapons. "I do not rule out the possibility of some Arab countries trying to possess nuclear weapons in one form or the other if Iran possesses them," he said.
"The Arabs ignored this significant aspect from the very beginning. Even though Iran started thinking about this in about 1977, we, the Arabs, began thinking about it only recently."
According to Prince Talal, Iran's influence now reaches the Mediterranean. "It wants to expand its influence to Syria, Lebanon and Palestine."
Key state in region
The majority of Palestinian groups are based in Damascus, he noted. "And Syria is a strong ally of Iran."
Therefore, he said, the Arabs should not try to isolate Syria. "We can't ignore that country."
He criticised the West for jeopardising the stability of Syria, saying that some assassination, like the recent ones in Lebanon, have been staged by "some Western powers" to put the blame on Syria.
"Syria holds great significance in the regional set-up. It is imperative that we should not sideline Syria taking into account the fact that the Western powers and other players in the region want Syria to remain in the scene," he said.
Lebanon issue
Syria has been implicated, by many in Lebanon, in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri and a number of Lebanese politicians last year. It withdrew its troops from its smaller neighbour shortly after that, following its three-decade military and political domination of Lebanon. An anti-Syria coalition is ruling Lebanon currently but it's under pressure from Hezbollah and Christian leader Michel Aoun to give Syria's allies more say in government.
Prince Talal said it was very difficult to improve the situation in Lebanon without the active participation of Syria.
"An agreement between the two countries is a minimum guarantee for restoring stability in Lebanon, and this stability would reflect on Syria also. This reconciliation between Syria and Lebanon should be achieved under the auspices of an Arab initiative, and it would be good if Saudi Arabia could lead the initiative as the kingdom will be a broker accepted by all concerned parties."
However, he lauded the "resolve and steadfastness" of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "If somebody else was in Siniora's place, he would have abandoned the job a long time ago. Siniora has proved that he is an iron man capable of confronting any grave challenge," he said.
He said the demands for a government change in Lebanon didn't reflect the national interests. These calls are "coming from outside the country from some known sources with the ulterior motive of destabilising the Lebanese government in trouble as well as to trigger anarchy and turbulence" in the war-torn country.
He called for "an Arab initiative led by Saudi Arabia," warning that in the absence of such an initiative, "it could be disastrous for Leb-anon and the Leb-anese people".
However, the toughest part of Prince Talal's criticism was saved for the United States, which he said was often responsible for escalating terrorism in the region.
US policy and terror
"It is right to say that some Arab regimes, with their dictatorships, denial of freedom and inability to curb growing poverty, have contributed to terrorism. But the US policy towards the region is the major reason for the spread of terrorism.
"According to an opinion poll conducted by a Saudi newspaper a year and a half ago, 85 per cent of the Saudi people believe that it is the US policy that is responsible for spreading terrorism in the region," he said.
Prince Talal also holds the United States responsible for the ongoing political anarchy, sectarian conflict and bloodletting in Iraq. "This was the result of the big blunders committed by the rightwing administration in the United States," he said.
"Most of the Iraqis, Sunnis, Shiites or Kurds, were happy with the ousting of Saddam Hussain in the beginning. However, now it seems tantamount to a huge catastrophe for Iraq as most of the Iraqis are … longing for the presence of Saddam."
EU role in security
As for the Gulf states, he said they should ensure involvement of the European Union in the region's security. "It is wrong to depend on the US alone and ignore the 25-nation EU in safeguarding the security of this vital region, which is significant for the entire world," he said.
Sudan criticised
Prince Talal also criticised Sudan for its opposition to the deployment of UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.
"If Khartoum fears any nation's intervention, then it can select the nations, which can represent the peacekeeping force, in coordination with the United Nations. Forces from the US and EU can be excluded from this force in order to avert Khartoum's apprehensions in this regard," he said, adding that Sudan should accept the peacekeeping forces in case their grievances were addressed.
He attributed Sudan's rejection of the UN peacekeeping force to Darfur to the fear of the government that "some of its officials may be detained" by the international forces for their alleged involvement in the purported genocide in Darfur.
"If this was not the case, what prompts Khartoum to reject the presence of international peacekeeping forces in the strife-torn southern region?" he asked.
Prince Talal concluded with a strong call for real political reforms in the region and said Islamic political movements "that believe in democracy" were welcome to be part of that process "as long as they are adhering to the laws of the land and the constitution of the country."
Peace in Iraq
Echoing a recent call by US former Secretary of State James Baker on the Bush administration to speak with Iran and Syria to reduce its troubles in Iraq, Prince Talal said Washington will never be able to restore peace and stability in Iraq without talking to Damascus and Tehran. However, he urged Iraq's neighbouring Sunni states to support its minority Sunnis to ensure they have a fair role in running their country.
"It is not possible to accomplish anything in Iraq without taking into confidence Iran and Syria. The US should talk to these countries and other concerned countries as they can exercise more influence in Iraq," he said while noting that there is "a Sunni belt" surrounding Iraq, running from Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
"It is the duty of these countries to support the Iraqi Sunnis, not by supplying them with weapons but through political pressure and contacts. The Kurds in the north and Shiites in the south hold sway over the oil resources while the Sunnis in the centre have nothing. This can't be agreeable. Hence, the neighbouring countries should have a key role and a commanding voice until a fair deal is ensured for all people" of Iraq.
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