Obituary: The moderniser of Saudi Arabia King Fahd (1923-2005) Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud carried his kingdom through both opulent and turbulent times. He began his reign in June 1982 after his brother, King Khaled, died of a heart attack. Born in 1923 in Riyadh, Fahd was one of 42 brothers and half-brothers. Educated at the Princes' School established by his father, the founder of the modern state of Saudi Arabia, King Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, Fahd also attended the Religious Knowledge Institute in Mecca, where he was taught by some of the country's leading Islamic scholars. Fahd was groomed from an early age to someday become king. His diplomatic career began in 1945 when he attended the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York along with his brother Faisal, who would later become king. In 1953, at the age of 30, he was appointed Saudi Arabia's first education minister, laying the foundation for a nationwide school system. He maintained a keen interest and involvement in education throughout his rule. The tally of schools during his reign rose from 15,079 in 1985 to 23,517 in 2003. After ascending to the throne, King Fahd dedicated much effort to modernising the country's industries and military, as well as expanding the Two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina. The Haram Mosque in Mecca was expanded so as to accommodate more than a million worshippers at once. He also tried to move towards more political freedom, announcing the Basic System of Government in 1992, which codified the legal rights of Saudi citizens and increased the legislative powers of the Majlis Al-Shura, or appointed consultative council. Now the council was empowered to propose new laws and amendments without the king's express initiative. But King Fahd was to face his toughest test in August 1990 when he was forced to invite American and British troops into the kingdom after Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait, seeming poised to invade the kingdom next. Islamic conservatives, including Osama Bin Laden, were extremely displeased with the move, condemning the fact that "infidel" troops, including women, had been allowed to defile what they called "holy" soil. This outcry over foreign troops on Saudi soil spawned the first potent Islamic opposition to the royal House of Al-Saud's rule. King Fahd had been known to be somewhat of a playboy and gambler in his youth. That along with his perceived pro- American slant helped fuel the rise of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. Demonstrations against the US presence were quelled and hundreds of clerics detained. Radicals bombed two US military posts in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996, killing 25 Americans. The ruling family also lost support when it was forced to cut back on the lavish benefits provided to most Saudis following the huge costs of the Persian Gulf War and a plunge in oil prices in subsequent years. During this time, in 1995, King Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke that left him wheelchair bound, forcing him to delegate the day-to-day running of the kingdom to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah. Saudi-US relations were stretched almost to breaking point after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States which were staged mostly by Saudi terrorists, many in the US administration blaming the kingdom's strict Wahabi School of Islam for fuelling intolerance and terrorism. Further, in 2003, Al-Qaeda launched a violent campaign against Westerners in Saudi Arabia, targeting residential compounds and oil sites. It was Crown Prince Abdullah who oversaw a crackdown against extremist teaching and preaching and introduced the kingdom's first elections in over 40 years -- for municipal elections -- earlier this year. Visitors who saw King Fahd after his 1995 stroke report that he barely recognised those who shook his hand and was only tenuously aware of what was going on around him. King Fahd was regularly in and out of hospital over the past 10 years. His latest bout of illness began on 27 May when a serious case of pneumonia necessitated his entry to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. He never recovered, reportedly kept alive with the aide of a ventilator until his death on 1 August. Officially King Fahd had three wives and eight sons. His eldest son Faisal died in 1999 of a heart attack.
