Even though it was the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, and thus an Islamic holiday, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia had a busy schedule. At 10 o'clock last Tuesday morning, he had an audience with the Oil Minister of neighboring Kuwait, Abdel Muttaleb al Kazimi, at the royal palace in Riyadh. Outside the King's office, Kazimi was greeted by Prince Faisal ibn Musaed, 26, a nephew of the King's and one of the 3,000-odd princes of the House of Saud. While Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister, Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, briefed the King on the audience, Kazimi and Prince Faisal, apparently a former classmate of Kazimi's, waited outside. When Yamani returned to usher Kazimi inside, the prince tagged along.
The King welcomed Kazimi, then turned to greet his nephew. At that moment the prince drew a revolver from his robe and shot the King twice in the head. He fired a third time, missed and threw the gun away. Faisal crumpled to the floor. Bodyguards wielding gold swords and submachine guns seized the prince. The King was rushed to a nearby hospital; shortly after noon an announcer on Radio Riyadh, his voice sobbing with emotion, said that Faisal was dead. Soon after, Radio Riyadh reported that the royal family had chosen Crown Prince Khalid ibn Abdul Aziz to succeed his brother and that Interior Minister Prince Fahd had been named Crown Prince (see box following page).
Not since the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser nearly five years ago had the Arab world been so deeply shaken by the loss of a political leader. Across the Middle East, radio stations broke into their regular programs to replay the emotion-choked voice of the Riyadh announcer. Panic and hysteria swept through the dusty streets of the capital as the news spread. Fierce Bedouin tribesmen wept openly; army and police units moved into strategic positions throughout the city. Within hours, every Arab government had proclaimed extended periods of mourning. Egypt's President Anwar Sadat, who had received extensive aid and political support from the Saudi King, called Faisal "a tireless fighter for the Arab cause." Tunisia's aging President Habib Bourguiba, who described Faisal as a friend of 30 years and "a force for stability and moderation," broke off a meeting with Libya's Strongman Muammar Gaddafi to head for Riyadh and join a procession of foreign leaders flying in for Faisal's funeral.
U.S. officials, who viewed the pro-American, anti-Communist Faisal as a strong moderating influence in the Middle East, were shocked by the news of his death. In Washington, President Ford described him as "a close friend of the United States" whose "wisdom and stature earned the respect of the entire world." Ford dispatched Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to Riyadh to convey his condolences to the royal family. Secretary of State Kissinger, who had conferred with Faisal only six days earlier in Riyadh, spoke of the King's "extraordinary personality" and of his unique influence on "both the moderates and the radical elements in the Arab world."