[tcrlaf]

It's thought he had cancer, and his death leaves a big hole in the line of succession to be King.

[dragnet2]

Was this the guy Bush was kissing on?

[I Hate Obama]

This reminds me of the 12th Imam Prophecies that Ahmadinejad always yells about. One of the final signs of Imam Al-Mahdi’s (Satan’s) return was the death of Saudi King Abdullah.

[popdonnelly]

I’m worried about what Iran will do. The U.S. has shown itself to be an unreliable ally in the Middle East, we are taking our combat troops out of Iraq, and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister and heir apparent is now dead. They must be celebrating in Teheran.

[G8 Diplomat]

The king gave Nayif the implicit "OK" when he appointed him as deputy prime minister in 09, I think. It's likely that he will be next in line.

Khalid and Bandar are probably the 2 most well-known sons of Sultan. Khalid is the assisstant defense minister, fought in the Gulf War and against the Hawthis in Yemen, opposes Iran, and owns the Living Oceans Foundation. He is Sultan's oldest son.

Saudi Arabia is odd in its succession rules in that power doesn't pass from father to son, it passes from the oldest living son of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (the founder) to the next oldest, until that generation has all passed away, and then it passes to the second generation in the same fashion. This means we wind up with a lot of aging, short-reigning monarchs and heirs dying of old age before they take the throne.