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World Leaders Fly in for Fahd Funeral
By ADNAN MALIK, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - World leaders jetted into the Saudi capital amid tight security on Tuesday for the funeral of King Fahd, this oil-rich country's ruler for almost a quarter century who died a day earlier from a long illness. Fahd will be buried in a simple grave marked only by a small stone without a name or inscription, indistinguishable from the nearby graves of commoners and past kings in keeping with the austere burial traditions of conservative Saudi Arabia. Fahd, the country's absolute monarch since 1982 died early Monday at age 84 after nearly two months in a Riyadh hospital. He'd been leader in name only the last decade, following a debilitating stroke in 1995. His half brother and the country's de factor ruler the last 10 years, the former Crown Prince Abdullah, was quickly installed as the successor to the Saudi throne and will lead the procession of thousands of mourners attending prayer and burial services for Fahd in Riyadh's Old City. Saudi officials said there would be no state funeral for Fahd a tradition they say is not part of the kingdom's strict version of Islam known as Wahhabism. According to Islamic rituals, the body of a deceased should be buried quickly to honor it, and coffins are not used. Instead, the body is interred in a white shroud. Security forces erected multiple checkpoints and locked down the motorcade route from the city center to the airport, where Saudi officials in flowing robes and traditional Arab headdresses waited in searing summer heat to greet arriving presidents from Arab countries, Afghanistan and African states such as Senegal. Western leaders and dignitaries including Britain's Prince Charles, French ident Jacques Chirac and Australia's governor general will also arrive in Riyadh to pay their respects to Fahd. A U.S. delegation will also attend, but its makeup was not immediately known. Thousands of forces have been deployed to the capital, including several hundred police and anti-terrorism personnel in and around the 6,000-capacity Mosque of Imam Turki bin Abdullah, where a pre-burial funeral service for Fahd will be held later Tuesday. Saudi Arabia has been on high alert for terror attacks during the past two years amid a violent campaign waged by Islamic militants allied to Saudi dissident and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who has vowed to topple the ruling royal family for its close ties to the United States. Most of the mourners expected to crowd the mosque, Riyadh's largest Islamic shrine, will come from among the Saudi royal family itself, which is believed to include more than 10,000 princes. Fahd's body will be brought by ambulance from the King Faisal Specialist Hospital where he died to the mosque in the Deira neighborhood of Riyadh's Old City, at which a short prayer service will be held. Shortly after, an ambulance will ferry his body to the al-Oud cemetery some three miles away, where his three predecessors as king half brothers Saud, Faisal and Khaled are also buried, along with commoners. There are no gravestones or tombs for any of the kings, only piles of dirt and a simple stone at each grave with no name or inscription. Countries from all over the globe have sent their condolences following the death of Fahd, who as Saudi's ruler has controlled the world's largest oil reserves and been custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina. "It is a sad day for us but (the loss of Fahd) is a harsh reality that we have to face," said Khaled Saleh, a 30-year-old hotel customer relations manager. Another Riyadh resident, Abdullah al-Dokry, 30, said he was "worried about the future of our country" and said "more energetic people are needed to take us into the future." Abdullah is 81 and his successor as crown prince, half brother Sultan, is 77. Countries around the world marked Tuesday as a day of mourning. Flags on New Zealand public buildings and military facilities were flown at half staff Tuesday, and Spain declared Tuesday as a day of mourning. Flags in Saudi Arabia will not be lowered to half-staff because the green Saudi flag is inscribed with Islam's testament of faith, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet." Putting it at half staff would be a debasement of God's name. The Mulindwas Communication Group
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