August 3rd, 2005
Farewell to King Fahd
Heads of state from the Islamic world and Saudi princes and Islamic clerics prayed for the late King Fahd in a packed Riyadh mosque Monday, bidding farewell to this oil-rich country’s ruler for almost a quarter of a century.
Fahd’s body was brought into the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque, wrapped in a plain brown cloth on a wooden plank carried by his sons, and placed in the middle of the mosque amid the crowd of thousands, including his successor, King Abdullah.
Thousands crowded in the mosque, some with tears in their eyes as the special prayer for the dead began.
The mourners stood, raising their arms and chanting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great” during the two-minute prayer. Afterward, Fahd’s body was carried back out to an ambulance for a procession of cars to a Riyadh cemetery where the monarch, wrapped in a white shroud, will be buried in an unmarked grave, in keeping with the kingdom’s austere version of Islam.
Thousands of police were deployed to the capital for funeral ceremonies that presented a security challenge, with large crowds of Saudis participating alongside monarchs, presidents and other dignitaries from the Arab world and other Islamic nations.
Saudis were flocking to express their condolences and their allegiance to Abdullah, Fahd’s half brother.
Abdullah took the throne after the 84-year-old Fahd’s death Monday in a smooth succession that suggested the sprawling royal family was unified in the need to show stability in the first change in the monarchy in 23 years.
State television showed well wishers lined up at the palaces of provincial governors across the country to pledge their loyalty to Abdullah, who had been the kingdom’s de facto ruler since Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995.
“Saudi Arabia bids farewell to King Fahd on his way to paradise,” proclaimed a large front-page headline on the Saudi daily Al-Jazeera.
Saudi and pan-Arab newspapers were packed with poems and tributes to the late king and vows of loyalty to Abdullah. Businessmen, government agencies and private individuals took out full page - or even two-page - advertisements with their condolences, with large photos of the late monarch.
Satellite TV stations seen across the Arab world, many of them owned by Saudi businessmen, had wall-to-wall Fahd coverage, airing the funeral live after a day of talk shows and tributes to Fahd’s life.
Source: EITB24