CROWN PRINCE SULTAN BACKS THE KING IN FAMILY

S E C R E T RIYADH 000296 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR GORDON GRAY AND SCOTT CARPENTER POLICY PLANNING STAFF FOR KRASNER NSC FOR MIKE DORNAN AND NICK RAMCHAND E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2012 TAGS: PGOV SA SUBJECT: CROWN PRINCE SULTAN BACKS THE KING IN FAMILY DISPUTES REF: REF 06 8912 Classified By: Political Counselor David H. Rundell Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) Summary: The Al Saud are a political party as well as a family. As with any political party, there are always internal rivalries and policy disputes. Ruling family disputes currently center on the role of seniority in succession, policy towards Israel, and cuts in royal compensation. It is well known that tension existed between Prince Abdullah bin Abudulaziz and Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz when they were Crown Prince and Second Deputy Prime Minister respectively. Now that Abdullah has become King, Crown Prince Sultan, like any good number two, is standing squarely behind his boss. End Summary. ¶2. (S) The new Succession Law created winners and losers (see reftel). Merit, rather than age, has become the primary factor in electing a new King. Most princes have accepted this change. After all, under the old system very few princes ever expected to become King. Now, many more actually have a shot at the throne. Only Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, the next in age after Crown Prince Sultan, has been outspoken in his protests about the new arrangements. Riyadh Governor Salman bin Abdulaziz is often the referee in family disputes. According to a reliable contact with good access to ruling family circles, Salman recently had a blunt conversation with Abdulrahman in which he told his brother to "shut up and get back to work". ¶3. (S) We have also picked up first hand accounts of intra-family tension over policy towards Israel. Some princes, most notably National Security Advisor Bandar Bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, are reportedly pushing for more contact with Israel. Bandar now sees Iran as a greater threat than Israel. Other princes believe that Saudi Arabia's traditional concerns with the Islamic holy places and the plight of the Palestinian should remain paramount. ¶4. (S) By far the most widespread source of discontent in the ruling family is the King's curtailment of their privileges. King Abdullah has reportedly told his brothers that he is over 80 years old and does not wish to approach his judgment day with "the burden of corruption on my shoulder." Three well informed sources report that thousands of princes and princesses have had their toll free mobile phone service disconnected. Likewise, Government paid suites that some princes maintained year round in Jeddah hotels have been canceled. The ability of royal family members to request unlimited free tickets on Saudia Airline has been curtailed. Often more tickets than needed were requested and the excess tickets were sold by princes for cash. We have a first hand account that a wife of Interior Minister Prince Naif attempted to board a Saudia flight with 12 companions, all expecting to travel for free. To her outrage, she was told that new rules from the King allowed her to take only two free guests. The new rule reportedly disgusted Prince Mishal bin Majid bin Abudulaziz so much that he has taken to driving between Jeddah and Riyadh to show his annoyance. Yet, another new practice is giving traffic tickets to princes. Again we have a first hand account of Prince Yussif bin Saud bin Abdulaziz being stopped and given a speeding ticket even when the police realized he was the son of a former king. The contact who saw this said he was amazed to see the son of a king being asked to get out of his Audi and show the police a driving license ¶5. (S) While curtailing phones and flights may be an annoyance, King Abdullah is also cutting into some of the ruling family's more serious entitlements. There are six million guest workers in Saudi Arabia who all need visas. Princes have long had access to work visas. When an employer wants to bring in labor, he must apply to the Ministries of Interior and Labor for permits. Some princes and prominent courtiers have been granted "block visas", which are similar to bearer bonds in that they can be cashed in by anyone who holds them. These block visas are generally for low skilled laborers and have long been obtainable from princes for a price. Saudiazation made it harder to obtain standard visas for foreign workers and thus drove up the price of visas in the market. Princes with visas to sell like this. However, in an effort to make Saudiazation work, King Abdullah has reigned in, and by some accounts eliminated, the issuance of block visas and thus cut the income of many junior princes. ¶6. (S) Land is the most important source of income for many princes. The government, specifically the Ministries of Finance and Municipal and Rural Affairs, often transfers public land to princes, who in turn sell it at huge profit to real estate developers. This is not all that much different than the deal between King Charles and William Penn, just a different century. During the last weeks of King Fahd's life there were many reports of princes and senior courtiers racing to finalize land grants before the regime changed. A contact with direct access to the information reports that Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz and Prince Abudulaziz bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz made hundreds of millions of dollars when they sold land for the new King Abudulaziz Economic City to the Dubai real estate development company EMMAR. Another source with less direct access to information has added the names of Mitab bin Abduallah bin Abdulaziz and Saudi Arabian Investment Agency Governor Amar Dabbagh to those who have profited from EMMAR's real estate development plans in Saudi Arabia. Since ascending the throne, King Abdullah has dramatically reduced the practice of transferring public land to favored individuals. ¶7. (S) In recent months tensions in the ruling family reportedly came to the boil with Minister of Interior Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz and Riyadh Governor Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz sought to openly confront the King over reducing royal entitlements. According to well established sources with first hand access to this information, it was Crown Prince Sultan who stood by the King in this quarrel. Sultan reportedly told his brothers that challenging the King was a "red line" he would not cross. He advised that stability and internal security are the ruling families foremost goals. "If we challenge Abdullah where will it end?" Sultan also advised his brothers that the Kingdom faces serious dangers in Iraq and Iran. It is no time for internal disunity. He reportedly said something similar to Benjamin Franklin's admonishment to the Continental Congress that, "We must all hang together or we will certainly all hang separately." The Crown Prince's arguments carried the day due to the force of his personality and his position as the eldest full brother of the so called Sudairy Seven. Our contact went on to say that while King Abdullah is "wise and kind", Crown Prince Sultan is "smart and shrewd." He added that the King's great popularity with the people of Saudi Arabia, resulting in part from his cutting royal entitlements, made opposing him unwise. ¶8. (S) As further evidence of Sultan's support for Abdullah, this source reported that he had himself recently gone to see Crown Prince Sultan to finalize a land transfer he had been promised by a prince. Sultan noted that as Crown Prince he had the authority to finalize the deal, however the King had asked for a hiatus on such transfers. Sultan said he wished to show his support for the King and asked that the transfer be delayed. Another contact reported that Prince Turki bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz went to see the Crown Prince after the King had turned down his request for a land grant. Crown Prince Sultan told Turki, who is his son-in-law, that he would neither issue a land grant nor raise the issue again with the King. He told Turki that the King had made his view clear and that a Crown Prince must support his King. The Crown Prince has said basically the same thing in public. When asked about expected cabinet changes, Sultan told the press that cabinet changes were the prerogative of the King and the King alone. Finally, the King and Crown Prince are often seen together in public with no visible sign of tension or animosity between them. This was true during their two day visit to Najran and more recently when they went to Jeddah to welcome Mecca Governor Abd al- Majeed bin Abdulaziz home from medical treatment in Europe. ¶9. (S) Comment: Most of the Arabian Peninsula's ruling families have histories of intra-family conflict. The Al Sabbah of Kuwait, the Nahayan of Abu Dhabi, the Al Thanni of Qatar and the Al Qassami of Sharjah have all at one time or another murdered or deposed each other. In the early twentieth century, King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud faced strong opposition from his cousins in the Saud Al Kabir branch of the ruling family. In 1962, Crown Prince Faisal's deposition of his brother King Saud nearly tore the Kingdom apart. Intra-family conflict has been, and will remain, the greatest potential threat to regime stability in Saudi Arabia. Prince Sultan recognizes this. Numerous contacts have now confirmed that in the interest of family unity, upon which his own future rests, Crown Prince Sultan is supporting, or at least not openly opposing, King Abdullah's various reform efforts. End Comment. OBERWETTER