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Moderates fret that Fahd will once again back down rather than confront the conservatives. "He will never fight them," says a Saudi intellectual. But failure to institute reforms now will only serve to encourage the extremists. Fahd's father, King Abdul Aziz, founder of the kingdom, did not hesitate to sever his alliance with the puritanical Wahhabi warriors when they defied his rule. As the struggle over Saudi Arabia's future intensifies, Fahd could do worse than recall his father's choice when challenged by his kingdom's zealots.