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Saudi Arabia to bury King Abdullah on Friday

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will bury King Abdullah in an unmarked grave on Friday, hours after it moved to ensure a smooth transition by appointing a new king and crown prince to quell fears of dynastic instability at a time of regional turmoil. Abdullah’s successor, King Salman, now takes over as the ultimate authority in a country that faces unprecedented tumult in the region and difficult long-term domestic challenges compounded by the plunging price of oil. Salman must navigate a white-hot rivalry with Shi’ite Muslim power Iran playing out in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Bahrain, open conflict in two neighboring states, a threat from Islamist militants and bumpy relations with the United States. Reputedly pragmatic and adept at managing the delicate balance of clerical, tribal, royal and Western interests that factor into Saudi policy making, Salman appears unlikely to change the kingdom’s approach to foreign affairs or […]

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Salman Becomes Saudi Arabia’s Ruler After Death of King Abdullah

Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ascended to the throne of Saudi Arabia after the death of his half-brother King Abdullah, taking the helm of the biggest Arab economy amid political turmoil in the Middle East and tumbling oil prices. King Abdullah, who was born in 1924, died at 1 a.m. in Riyadh . The royal court said Salman, 79, was named king and Prince Muqrin, 69, another half-brother, has been chosen as Crown Prince. Oil prices surged after the announcement. Salman was named as crown prince in 2012 and takes over as the world’s top oil exporter faces a growing threat of militant attacks at home after joining the U.S.-led military coalition against Islamic State in Syria. Regional rival Iran and its Shiite allies are gaining influence, while plunging oil prices are curbing Saudi Arabia’s capacity to invest. “King Abdullah made every effort to make sure the transition would […]

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Saudi Arabia’s New King Probably Will Not Change Current Oil Policy

King Salman, Saudi Arabia’s new ruler, probably will stick to the oil policy of his predecessor, the late King Abdullah , maintaining production levels to preserve market share even at the cost of depressing prices. A key indicator will be whether Salman, 79, retains the oil minister, Ali al-Naimi , who has driven decision-making since 1995. Naimi, who turns 80 this year, has said he’d like to devote more time to his other job, chairman of the science and technology university named after the late sovereign. With production of 9.5 million barrels a day and exports of 7 million, Saudi Arabia accounts for more than a 10th of global supply and a fifth of crude sold internationally. The kingdom’s refusal to surrender market share to rising U.S. output has contributed to the worst slump in prices since the global credit crisis of 2008. “The Saudi leadership has already taken […]

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Oil Prices Probably Won’t Keep Gains Made After Death of Saudi King

The increase in oil prices after the death of Saudi Arabia ’s King Abdullah will probably be temporary amid an oversupply in the crude market. Brent, the global oil benchmark, climbed as much as 2.6 percent and U.S. marker WTI jumped 3.1 percent after the king’s death was announced by Saudi royal court. Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Abdullah’s half-brother who will succeed him, is seen sticking to the oil policy of the world’s biggest crude exporter. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer, has led the group’s strategy of maintaining production quotas amid a 58 percent drop in crude since its peak in June. While smaller producers including Venezuela called for action to prop up prices, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi highlighted the need to preserve market share as global demand slows and the U.S. pumps the most since 1983. “There’s still an overwhelming glut of supply in global markets,” […]

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IMF: Venezuela wounded by low oil prices

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro faces uphill economic battle as low oil prices take their toll. (UPI Photo/Mohammad Kheirkhah) WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) — Venezuela’s economy will decline more than any other in the region as a result of the drop in oil prices, analysis from the International Monetary Fund found. The Central Bank of Venezuela in December said the collapse in oil prices was in part to blame for a 2.3 percent drop in third quarter gross domestic product. That marked three straight quarters of decline for the member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a formal slip into recession . Oil prices have dropped more than half since June and are down 20 percent since the Central Bank’s announcement. Alejandro Werner, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere division, said declining oil prices means a sharp economic downturn for Caracas. "Venezuela’s economy will take the largest hit […]

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South Sudan’s Warring Factions Sign Peace Deal

ENLARGE South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, left, exchanges documents with rebel leader Riek Machar, right, in Arusha, Tanzania, as Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete looks on. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images KAMPALA Uganda—Warring factions in South Sudan have signed an agreement to reconcile the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement party, officials said on Thursday, in the latest effort to resolve the conflict that has ravaged the oil-rich nation for more than a year. Under the deal, signed in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha, the parties agreed to “reunify and reconcile” the three factions within the party, the Finland-based conflict-resolution group Crisis Management Initiative said in a statement. President Salva Kiir, signed the deal with his former deputy Riek Machar —now a rebel leader—and Deng Alor Kuol, the representative of former political detainees who were arrested shortly after the outbreak of the violence in December 2013. The deal outlines the road […]

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Libyan Fighters Seize Benghazi Branch of Central Bank

BAYDA, Libya — Fighters for one of the factions battling for control of Libya seized the Benghazi branch of the country’s central bank on Thursday, threatening to set off an armed scramble for the bank’s vast stores of money and gold, and cripple one of the last functioning institutions in the country. The central bank is the repository for Libya’s oil revenue and holds nearly $100 billion in foreign currency reserves. It is the great prize at the center of the armed struggles that have raged here since the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. Western leaders had hoped that it might play a crucial role in helping to bring the rest of the country back together. Since Libyan rebels toppled Colonel Qaddafi with the help of Western airstrikes, the country has slipped into chaos, as militias grounded in particular locations or ideologies have battled for turf, money […]

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U.S. pulls more staff from Yemen embassy amid deepening crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has pulled more staff out of its embassy in Yemen, U.S. officials said on Thursday as Washington scrambled to cope with the collapse of a government that had been a key ally in the fight against al Qaeda. The scaling down of its presence in Yemen is the first sign that the latest turmoil there will affect U.S operations in a country that President Barack Obama hailed just four months ago as a model for “successful” counter-terrorism partnerships. The U.S. diplomatic contingent in Sanaa was drawn down due to the deteriorating security situation in the Yemeni capital, the officials said. They insisted there were no plans to close the embassy, which could been seen as erosion of U.S. resolve in counter-terrorism operations in the volatile Arab country. However, current and former U.S. officials say the chaos engulfing Yemen has already threatened the administration’s […]

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Oil drop ‘disastrous’ for anti-Isis fight

Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi The collapse in the oil price has had “disastrous” consequences for the fight against Isis, Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s prime minister, has warned world powers. Western leaders meeting Mr Abadi in London on Thursday have promised to increase shipments of ammunition and to consider allowing the Iraqi government to defer millions of dollars of payments for key supplies, in order to alleviate budgetary pressure and ensure the country’s military can continue fighting. More On this topic IN Iraq Baghdad’s budgetary crisis, which has been greatly deepened by the falling oil price, dominated discussions on Thursday between representatives of a coalition of world powers that is working to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadi group, known as Isis. The talks were hosted by Philip Hammond, Britain’s foreign secretary, and led by his US counterpart, John Kerry. “I cannot stress this [problem] any […]

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U.S. Fears Chaos as Government of Yemen Falls

SANA, Yemen — The American-backed government of Yemen abruptly collapsed Thursday night, leaving the country leaderless as it is convulsed by an increasingly powerful force of pro-Iran rebels and a resurgent Qaeda. The resignation of the president, prime minister and cabinet took American officials by surprise and heightened the risks that Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, would become even more of a breeding ground for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has claimed responsibility for audacious anti-Western attacks — including the deadly assault on Charlie Hebdo in Paris this month. The resignation of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi brought full circle Yemen’s Arab Spring revolution, which ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 amid massive popular protests. Now Mr. Saleh, who has lately made himself an unlikely ally of the Houthi rebels who toppled the government, is poised to return to the forefront of Yemeni politics. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple