RIYADH: Strains are getting clearer among Saudi Royal Family which can endanger a smooth transition of power after King Abdullah’s death.
The King’s youngest brother, Muqrin, who was named deputy crown prince is popular both among ordinary people and foreign diplomats.
But behind closed doors, questions are being raised in the royal family about the manner in which Muqrin was chosen, the validity of his newly created title and his being a son of Yemeni concubine who was never formally married to his father.
“He is not a real prince; his mother was a slave and there are other brothers who are more competent,” said a former Saudi official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because criticizing the royal family is imprudent. “Nobody believes Muqrin can become king.”
The issue also is growing in urgency as Abdullah enters his 90s. He breathed with the help of a respirator throughout his two-hour meeting with Obama in March, and he makes frequent visits to hospitals in the United States. His immediate successor, Crown Prince Salman, is hardly in better shape.
“He was picked for this post because he is easily used,” tweeted an account known as @mutjahidd, which has 1.4 million followers and is thought to belong to a palace insider because its information often is accurate.
The founder of the Saudi state, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, decreed only that his first son would inherit the throne, and over the subsequent six decades the succession passed from brother to brother roughly in order of their age. Soon, however, the last of the current line of brothers (of which there were at least 35) will die, necessitating a transfer of power to the brothers’ sons — the third generation of the family.
Western diplomats in Riyadh say the king may simply have been trying to secure the future of the monarchy but instead has exposed its vulnerabilities.
“Muqrin will potentially be the weakest king in Saudi history,“ said one, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the subject is sensitive. “He is not from the first ranks of the royal family, he has no constituency and he will have to ride herd on a lot of powerful princes.”
One, widely disseminated on Twitter, holds that Abdullah is seeking to secure the future of his own sons once the succession passes to the next generation. Muqrin, who lacks important tribal connections or an influential position, will be beholden, the theory goes, to Abdullah’s sons, notably his favorite, Mithab, who heads the national guard.
Another theory blames the powerful head of the royal court, Khaled Tuwairji, who is accused of duping the frail Abdullah into appointing Muqrin in return for a promise that he will keep his job after Abdullah dies.
“The sinister acts and destructive tendencies of this person are the cause,” tweeted Saud bin Saif al-Nasser, a prince whose father was passed over.
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