Interior Ministry Saudi Arabia
Thank you King Abdullah for making Prince bin Nayef the new Interior Ministry of your country.
I have been involved in the Gulf for the last 8 years and have developed very close family and business relationships with families of influence and with that has come trust and with that access to things that are happening. Some of my Saudi friends were thinking I was drinking some bad tea when I said months ago that Prince bin Nayef would be named the interior minister after his fathers death, but it was based on good information.
Over the last 3 or 4 years it became very clear that the King thought very highly of Prince bin Nayef even over his sons, Prince Nayef is his nephew. For some years Prince Nayef has been the leader of the Kingdom’s efforts to stop terrorism in the country. He was also given the responsibly to direct the war along the Yemen border and was the only person in the Kingdom who was given by the King the ability to make decisions on his own and take action. There are many reasons for this close relationship of these two leaders and at the top is that they both want to see progressive change in Saudi to open up the country in every area including women’s rights.
The way things work in the Kingdom is what we call the pecking order or seniority and that is why the top jobs always go to the next in line no matter what the age or ability. The King has been working to change that for many years for he does not want to have the country go back ward when he passes. He has worked hard for change but has had to go slow due to the resistance from the hard liners but he has been patient and working steadily for change. Even in this case he followed the Saudi way and appointed the older half brother to be Interior Minister when Prince Nayef died. This headed off problems within in the family and when you have worked in the Kingdom you find that to get things done it takes 4-5 months to get decisions, this is the way the family works.
All alone the goal was to have Prince bin Nayef the Interior Minister and it happened this week, and I suspect the way was cleared for the change by design not volunteer. Now Prince bin Nayef is in the line to be King and It would not surprise me if it was sooner then later. Don’t under estimate King Abdullah and his planning for he is very focused on leaving the Kingdom in the hands of a progressive who will continue his vision for the future Saudi Arabia.
At the end of the day we can thank King Abdullah for his foresight and bravery in the mist of resistance from hard liners around him. This is a blessing for Saudi and for the world particular the US for we will have a partner in Prince bin Nayef who understands the terrorist threat and how to defeat it. Be praying for safety and long life for King Abdullah and Prince bin Nayef.
Until next time Be Safe:
Phil Little
