SAUDI ARABIA: Prince Nayef's body, wrapped in a brown shroud, is carried through the great mosque in Mecca by his sons and other close family member ahead of burial, with mourners from across the Arab world taking part in prayers
Record ID:
188999
SAUDI ARABIA: Prince Nayef's body, wrapped in a brown shroud, is carried through the great mosque in Mecca by his sons and other close family member ahead of burial, with mourners from across the Arab world taking part in prayers
- Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Prince Nayef's body, wrapped in a brown shroud, is carried through the great mosque in Mecca by his sons and other close family member ahead of burial, with mourners from across the Arab world taking part in prayers
- Date: 18th June 2012
- Summary: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA (JUNE 17, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ARRIVING AT THE GRAND MOSQUE IN MECCA FOR FUNERAL OF SAUDI CROWN PRINCE NAYEF VARIOUS OF MUSLIM PILGRIMS CIRCLING AROUND THE KAABA AT THE GRAND MOSQUE PRINCE OF KUWAIT JABER AL-AHMAD AL-SABAH ARRIVING AT GRAND MOSQUE PAKISTANI DELEGATION ARRIVING EMIR OF KUWAIT SEATED INSIDE THE GRAND MOSQUE MOHAMMED BIN ZAYED, CROWN PRINCE OF ABU DHABI AT THE GRAND MOSQUE WITH SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY MEMBERS VARIOUS OF SAUDI KING ABDULLAH BIN ABDULAZIZ SEATED INSIDE THE GRAND MOSQUE WITH GUESTS AND ROYAL FAMILY MEMBERS AROUND HIM SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY MEMBERS PUTTING DOWN THE COFFIN OF LATE CROWN PRINCE NAYEF INSIDE THE MOSQUE PRINCE SALMAN BIN SULTAN VARIOUS OF SONS OF PRINCE NAYEF AND ROYAL FAMILY MEMBERS HUGGING EACH OTHER SONS OF PRINCE NAYEF AND ROYAL FAMILY MEMBERS CARRYING THE BODY OF CROWN PRINCE NAYEF AS A CALL FOR PRAYER IS MADE VARIOUS OF PRAYERS VARIOUS OF FAMILY MEMBERS CARRYING THE BODY OF CROWN PRINCE NAYEF AHEAD OF BURIAL TUNISIAN PRIME MINISTER HAMADI JEBALI SHAKING HANDS WITH SAUDI OFFICIALS VARIOUS OF SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY AND OFFICIALS LEAVING THE GRAND MOSQUE
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Saudi Arabia
- Country: Saudi Arabia
- Topics: Royalty,Royalty
- Reuters ID: LVA3I0FJPLB5T350W390QLN9G9E2
- Story Text: Saudi Arabia's elderly king led funeral prayers on Sunday (June 17) for his heir, Crown Prince Nayef, whose death forces him to find a new successor capable of tackling domestic unemployment, bitter rivalry with Iran and turmoil in close Arab neighbours.
Mecca's Great Mosque, Islam's holiest place, was lined with members of the al-Saud ruling family and leaders of Arab states as an imam led the sunset prayer next to the body of Nayef, who died on Saturday (June 16).
Among the mourners was the man most likely to be named as successor: Prince Salman, 76, who is seen as more likely to continue the 89-year-old King Abdullah's cautious economic and social reforms than the conservative Nayef.
The world's top oil exporter is locked in regional rivalry with Shi'ite Iran, which it suspects of fomenting unrest among its Shi'ite Muslim minority and in allied Gulf Arab states.
Former Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri was among those who met Nayef's body at Jeddah airport, representing the Sunni Muslim political alliance that Saudi Arabia cultivates against Iran.
Saudi Arabia is also struggling with entrenched youth unemployment and wary of the threat posed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in neighbouring Yemen, which has plotted attacks against the kingdom and sworn to topple the ruling al-Saud family.
The appointment of a new crown prince is not likely to change the kingdom's policies in the short term but might influence the course of reforms started by King Abdullah.
Salman, who is seen as a pragmatist with a strong grasp of the intricate balance of competing princely and clerical interests that dominate Saudi politics, was named defence minister last year.
Although most analysts believe it is highly likely Salman will be named as heir, King Abdullah may choose to activate the Allegiance Council, a body he set up in 2006 to supervise succession decisions after his death.
The Saudi succession has moved along a line of brothers born to the state's founder, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. A previous crown prince, Sultan, died last October.
While the Allegiance Council will not formally start to operate until after King Abdullah's death, the monarch last year chose to put his nomination of Prince Nayef to the body before his choice was announced.
Prince Nayef's body, wrapped in a brown shroud, was carried through the great mosque in Mecca by his sons and other close family member ahead of burial, as attendants were called to prayer.
The range of mourners sitting near King Abdullah, including the head of Egypt's military council, General Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, and leaders of Gulf Arab countries, the Palestinian authority and Lebanon, demonstrated Saudi Arabia's influence in the Muslim world.
Analysts say the most difficult decision in the succession will be when the line of Ibn Saud's sons is exhausted and a grandson must be chosen as crown prince.
Grandsons with the experience and qualifications to rule include Prince Khaled al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca province, who is 71, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the deputy interior minister, who is 52. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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