A humble send-off

last updated 8 January 2015

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Saudi King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, who died this week, was buried in the spartan style of Saudi Arabia’s strict Wahhabi Islam. While in life the king resided in sumptuous palaces and wore fine robes, in death he was wrapped in a plain cloth and placed in an unmarked grave in the desert. Fahd, who is believed to have been 82, is succeeded by his half-brother Abdullah, 82, who has effectively ruled the kingdom since Fahd’s stroke in 1995. Abdullah is not expected to make major changes, either in the country’s pro-U.S. foreign policy or its repressive domestic policy. “People have gotten used to Crown Prince Abdullah being in charge of things,” said Saudi journalist Mahmoud Ghamdi. (See Obituaries, page 36.)