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Some reports suggested that the prince had become interested in radical Arab politics while studying abroad. Acquaintances noted that his brother Prince Khalid had been killed by Saudi police nine years ago while leading a demonstration of religious zealots against a television station in Riyadh.* There were also stories that the prince was angry with King Faisal because he had been refused permission to live abroad on account of his dissolute ways. Inevitably, radical newspapers in some Arab capitals implied that the prince had been a tool of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agen cy. In light of Washington's well-documented concern for keep ing King Faisal's friendship, the accusation seemed absurd.
Barely 24 hours after King Faisal's death, his successor was installed as Saudi Arabia's fourth monarch. In a large, incense-filled hall in Riyadh's royal palace, princes and Cabinet ministers, religious leaders and Bedouin chiefs gathered for the ceremony of mubaya 'a to kiss King Khalid 's face and shoul der and swear allegiance to him. Soldiers and bodyguards in red-and-white kaffiyehs held back the crowd; at one point, the new King thrust himself into the throng to lead forward a blind old man who had come to greet him.
Outside the Cabinet building, where Faisal had spent so many long workdays dealing with affairs of state and receiving his subjects, white tents were set up to shelter the dignitaries who had come to attend the funeral. The rules of Islam's strict Wahhabi sect, to which King Faisal be longed, stipulate that a man's body should be buried as soon as possible after his death; Faisal's funeral, however, was delayed 36 hours in order to await the arrival of foreign delegations.
In accordance with Wahhabi tradition, Faisal's body was washed with soap and hot water, wrapped in a seamless white sheet, and covered by a dark brown shroud. The corpse lay in state briefly at the al Id al Kabir Mosque, which was sur rounded by more than 100,000 mourning Saudis. "Where goes our knight?" some cried. "Where goes our protector against confusion and poverty?" During the fatiha, the introductory in vocation, and again during the prayer for the dead, Arab dignitaries prostrated themselves on the ground. At length, the King's body was transported, with six of Faisal's brothers serving as pallbearers, to a graveyard on the outskirts of Riyadh where commoners as well as royalty are buried. The body was laid to rest in an unmarked grave not far from that of Faisal's fa ther, Ibn Saud, founder of the kingdom.
King Khalid's first official statements were aimed at as suring the Saudis and the rest of the world that nothing was about to change. "King Faisal," he said, "laid the foundations for a good policy to develop Saudi Arabia and its relations with other countries. I will complete his mission and continue with his policies." Khalid, a quiet man who has never cared much about public affairs, will rely heavily on Crown Prince Fahd; though Khalid took the title of Premier, he named Fahd First Deputy Premier and also allowed him to retain his previous powerful post of Minister of Interior.
Under Khalid and Fahd, Saudi Arabia will certainly main tain its strong commitment to the Arab cause against Israel.