 |
| King Abdul Aziz |
The Sudairis
The first King of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz had many wives one of whom was Hussa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi. Hussa was the daughter of the Chief of the Sudairi tribe. She was roughly 13 years old when she got married. However, when the King couldn't make any children with her she was divorced. Muhammad bin Abdurrahman, the King's half-brother married her and fortunately, she gave birth to his son. The King asked his half-brother to divorce her so that he could marry her again and he did. Then onwards she gave birth to the King's 7 sons to become his most loved wife. However, the successor to Fahad's throne was Abdullah, a non-Sudari. His mother belonged to the Shamar Tribe. The Saudi National Guard was under his command for a long time to which he recruited a lot of people from his mother's tribe. The National Guard is a powerful institution with numbers equaling to the Saudi Army. When Abdullah took charge of the kingdom he appointed his son, Mutaib as the head of the national guard. Seemingly to strengthen his authority and enhance his influence in the institution.
Culmination of Tensions
During Abdullah's reign, a 38 member committee was formed to select new crown princes. The committee included second and third generations of royals since the first generation was too old to keep up. When Salman (current King) took charge he bypassed the committee twice to change the crown princes so that his young son Muhammad (current Crown prince) becomes the heir to the throne. King Salman's attitude was aggressive from the very moment he took charge. While King Abdullah was yet to be buried, Salman dismissed Abdullah's sons from government positions and appointed others in their place. However, he failed to depose Prince Muhammad bin Naif, the head of the Saudi National Guard.
No comments:
Post a Comment