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OCTOBER 28, 2011

Saudi King Names Interior Minister Crown Prince

By SUMMER SAID

RIYADH--Saudi King Abdullah late Thursday named his conservative half brother and interior minister, Prince Nayef, as the crown prince following the recent death of the heir-apparent to the kingdom's throne.

Prince Nayef is one of the most powerful princes in the world's top oil-producing nation. He became the crown prince after a special committee, set up by the royal family five years ago to regulate the kingdom's opaque process of succession, reached an agreement on his elevation.

The so-called Allegiance Council, representing every branch of the dynasty founded by King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud last century, has never been tested before.

The move comes after crown prince and defense minister Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who was believed to be 86 years old, died in New York while undergoing treatment for an illness that analysts believed was cancer. His death raised questions over succession in the oil-rich kingdom as unrest continues to sweep the region and challenge nations' rulers.

Prince Nayef, believed to be 77, had been appointed as second deputy prime minister in 2009, an informal indication that he was next in line to the throne after the king and the crown prince.

Prince Nayef's appointment, which was expected, worries the more liberal Saudis who say his record as interior minister since 1975 involved blocking some reforms and overseeing crackdowns on political dissidents.

Other analysts, however, say the nature of his job as interior minister demanded an authoritarian approach. They believe he might show a different face if he ever becomes king.

Unlike most kingdoms' rules of succession, the Saudi monarchy doesn't pass from father to son but rather along a line of brothers born to Ibn Saud, who founded Saudi Arabia in 1934. Only 19 of the Saudi patriarch's 45 sons are still alive, and Prince Nayef is the most senior of these who is active in politics.

Although Sultan, who was the half brother of the ailing Saudi King Abdullah, was long seen as a likely future monarch, his health had deteriorated sharply in recent years, leading to long periods of absence from Saudi Arabia.

His death has raised the question of how the Al Saud family will handle the move to a new generation of kings after the present crop of candidates die out.

The present king, Abdullah, is the fifth of Ibn Saud's sons to become monarch of the kingdom.

Following the line of succession, of King Abdullah's 18 surviving brothers born to Ibn Saud, at least Prince Nayef would have to become king before any of Ibn Saud's grandsons would be considered.

King Abdullah, who also has health issues, underwent a back operation last week, the third in less than a year, to retighten the binding connector around the third vertebra. He left the hospital in Riyadh to continue medical treatment at a private clinic in his palace but it is still unclear how long the king will take to recover.

Limited information about the king's ailment has previously fanned speculation of a more serious problem with the health of the ruler of the Arab world's largest economy. During his previous absence, mass unrest unseated the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, while protests have rattled regimes in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria and Iran.

In November, the king appointed his son Miteb to head the kingdom's National Guard after the elderly monarch fell ill with a herniated disc. The move sparked speculation once again about succession in the world's top oil-exporting nation.

Leadership of the National Guard, a Bedouin army responsible for domestic security, had been a treasured role of Abdullah bin Abdelaziz Al Saud since 1963--long before he became a candidate for king.

His decision to pass it on to his second son was part of a broader effort to give more responsibility to the next generation of princes who will have to rule in the future, analysts say.

Write to Summer Said at summer.said@dowjones.com