Saudis pledge loyalty to the new monarch

They came in droves through the stifling desert heat and waited for hours in jostling crowds to shake the hand of their new king and give their time-honoured vows of loyalty.

There were tribesmen, princes and shaikhs, old men on canes and little boys clutching their fathers' hands.

King Abdullah emerged in the eyes of his people as the kingdom's ruler on Wednesday by carrying out the traditional Islamic rite of Saudi kings: He stood for hours in a sprawling marble hall in the capital, collecting pledges that verbally seal the social contract between the monarch and his people.

"I express my allegiance to you," the men told the king. "I hear and obey, except in what would disobey God." Some saluted while others kissed the king's right shoulder. Only members of the royal family are allowed to kiss the royal hand.

"If we had to do it every day, we'd do it,'" said Hafez Medlej, a 36-year-old soccer player. "We believe in our leaders, and we come to give them support and loyalty. This is the least we can do."

The ritual of bayah has its roots in the Islamic tradition that was born in Saudi Arabia, which holds that the caliphs who followed Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) collected similar promises of loyalty from their subjects.

It also derives from the rigid tribal codes that evolved as generations of families banded together to survive.

"I promise God and you that I will adopt the Holy Quran as the constitution and Islam as the course and that all my concerns will be to establish righteousness and justice, and serve all the people without discrimination," King Abdullah said in his first speech as the nation's official leader to his people.

"I appeal to you to support me and help me carry this trust. Don't hesitate to advise me."