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Arabia
Saudi Arabia bids farewell to King Fahd
2005-08-02
So long, ya old goat.
RIYADH - Saudis and a host of foreign dignitaries were Tuesday to pay their respects to King Fahd in a funeral which is the final act in an era that saw the monarch steer his country through the most turbulent decades in its history. Several Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, were to attend the funeral in Riyadh of the man they have hailed as a great Arab leader. But emphasising the close ties Fahd forged with the Western world, French President Jacques Chirac and Britain’s heir to the throne Prince Charles were also due in Riyadh Tuesday to pay their respects to the late king.
John Bolton will represent the US...
Saudi government forces would be applying tight security measures during the funeral of King Fahd at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in the center of the capital, an interior ministry spokesman said. “Security forces will enforce tight measures along the routes which the convoys of dignitaries will take and at the location of the funeral ceremony”, General Mansur al-Turki told AFP.
"We wish the mourners to hold the automatic weapons fire until the dignitaries and all their teevee cameras are safely out of range..."
Regional governors were also instructed by the new King Abdullah to open centres to allow people to pay condolences without having to travel to the capital for the funeral.
So they won't have to go back home to the tribes and discuss that...odd smell.
State television interrupted programmes to air verses from the Koran and many members of the ruling family crowded the Riyadh hospital where the monarch passed away to pay their last respects and to inquire whether the checks would still be coming each month.
Posted by:Steve White

#15  Could be worse, could be a sealed coffin with little free O2. That's slower, but way grosser.
Posted by: Shipman   2005-08-02 16:17  

#14  This isn't nice, but I'm gonna post it anyway:

Don't you ever laugh as a hearse goes by,
For you may be the next to die.
They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And cover you up from your head down to your feet.
They put you in a big black box,
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.
All goes well for about a week,
And then your coffin begins to leak.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout.
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.
A big green worm with rolling eyes,
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And pus pours out like whipping cream.
You spread it out on a slice of bread,
And that's what you eat when you are dead.
Posted by: Mike   2005-08-02 12:59  

#13  Oh, RC! You're a suspicious guy! ;-)
Posted by: Bobby   2005-08-02 12:11  

#12  I suspect they kept Fahd "stable" until the question of succession had been decided. I wouldn't be surprised to hear news of a couple of car accidents on the way to the funeral, maybe even a few people suddenly being discovered to have died in the last month.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-08-02 07:27  

#11  I'm reminded of something my Soviet History professor said. (This was back in 1979, he says, showing his age, when we still had the USSR.) "The USSR has never solved the succession problem." There was no mechanism for an orderly transition of executive power. Thus, Lenin croaks, and you have a struggle between Stalin and Trotsky; Stalin kicks off, and you have the struggle between Beria and Krushchev and Brezhnev, and so on . . . .

This is hardly an original thought, but that pronouncement is true, not only of the old USSR, but of tyrranies in general.

Saudi Arabia has the same issue. There's no orderly mechanism of succession, which is why Fahd has been on the ventilator so long.

Might be popcorn time.
Posted by: Mike   2005-08-02 06:44  

#10  The Saudis all, and I mean everyone with a steady job, go on vacation for much or all of August. Those who used to read The Religious Policeman are aware of this custom. Those that can afford it leave the country. Lebanon and the Med used to soak up much of the outflow, but the West and, recently, the UAE skim off the big money, these days.
Posted by: Phumble Ebbomotch4624   2005-08-02 04:47  

#9  Here's a quick and dirty explanation of Liar's Poker. The website wouldn't let me cut and paste, heh.
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-08-02 02:07  

#8  One more thought: The reason ol' Fahd had to "die" in August was to give the royals a plausible excuse to tell the tribals to stay home..."Yasss, it's much too hot for you to make the trip, please stay home and drink cool tea..."
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-08-02 02:02  

#7  For the analogy-deficient among us (like me), could you explain what liar's poker is?
Posted by: Phil Fraering   2005-08-02 02:02  

#6  Another note regarding the directive to the regional tribal leaders...my guesstimate is that the princelings are busy playing the ultimate game of Liars' Poker, with the future of Arabia and the heart and gonads of Islam at stake. They are not done carving up the booty, and they do not want to tip their hands with public displays of fealty from the tribes just yet, especially with all the infidels and Arab potentates hanging about. The tribal leaders must be courted, carefully and in confidence. PD might call this wasta. The princes have been waiting their entire lives to play this hand.
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-08-02 01:58  

#5  hoper tehy dont get sik ed. ima haten wen aminals hert. :(
Posted by: muck4doo   2005-08-02 01:08  

#4  Muck : He's beyond the bedbugs now. We're talking worms & maggots...
Posted by: BigEd   2005-08-02 01:05  

#3  Time to Say Goodbye
Posted by: BigEd   2005-08-02 01:04  

#2  Let's send Jimmah Carta...
Posted by: Raj   2005-08-02 01:00  

#1  bye fahd! sleper well an doen let teh bedbugs byte. :)
Posted by: muck4doo   2005-08-02 00:43  

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