SAUDI ARABIA - Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud.

Born in August 1924, King Abdullah had been co-ruling Saudi Arabia since late 1995, when King Fahd had a stroke, and his partner as well as rival in this is none other than Prince Sultan. As Crown Prince Sultan has retained control over the regular Saudi armed services, with his full-brother Nayef controlling internal security forces and the Border Guard, King Abdullah retains control over the National Guard and other sectors through his sons and close allies - the latter being part of the royal family's conservative wing. Prince Sultan now heads the progressive wing; but in reality this has become more conservative than the wing Abdullah has been heading for so many years (see Gas Market Trends).

The Saudi kingdom remains in a transition from the ageing sons of the late King Abdul-Aziz (ibn-Saud), founder of the current dynasty, to the grandsons. Now the transition seems likely to last either until a chosen grandson of ibn Saud has become king, or until something else happens as the world has begun to change rapidly since Sept. 11, 2001 (9/11), when the US was attacked by 19 hijackers including 15 young Saudis. These attackers were part of a Neo-Salafi movement headed by al-Qaeda, the most fanatic and violent strain in Sunni Islam, which is trying to bring about the downfall of "the American empire" and seems to be in tactical alliance with an Iran-led axis of anti-US forces in the Middle East including the Bashar al-Assad  regime in Syria (see APS Diplomat's news17-IranInArabPersianConfrtnOct22-07).

King Abdullah has vowed to eliminate al-Qaeda and its "work of the devil". He calls al-Qaeda "madness and evil", having promised to fight "30 years if we have to until we eliminate this scourge". He says religious extremism is everywhere. But he said in October 2005 he was surprised at linking extremism with Saudi Arabia. He emphasised that Islam was a religion of peace and that the kingdom was fighting terrorism.

The king has talked repeatedly about Saudi efforts to lower oil prices. Although Saudi Arabia benefits from high oil income, he says the high prices harm poor countries. Arab News in October 2005 quoted Dr. Ihsan Bu-Hulaiga, an economist and Shura Council member, as explaining: "What the king said is consistent with the kingdom's...long-term strategy for oil prices to be affordable...[and] to discourage alternative energy sources from becoming more affordable".