Saudi Arabia a Wild Goodbye to Mr. Oil

Yamani is fired as energy minister after two decades of power

To a world that often cowered before him, he was "Mr. Oil," the very symbol of what many viewed as Arab rapaciousness and relentless resolve to strangle the West. As the chief strategist and unofficial spokesman of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for more than two decades, Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani could seemingly drive oil prices -- and the global economy -- up or down at will. A few words from the unfailingly suave sheik could make government officials shudder and cause stock markets from New York City to New Delhi to fall. With gallows humor, wags depicted OPEC at...

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