Allah's Choice

At King Ibn Saud's deathbed in 1953, Prince Feisal of Saudi Arabia swore a mighty oath on the Koran that he would never usurp the kingship from the half brother who became King Saud. Last week, not for the first time, Saud, 63, kept his crown only because Feisal proved a man of his word. But the nominal kingship and his allowance--which was halved to a mere $20 million a year --were all that Saud retained. The sixyear power struggle between the two brothers culminated in a bloodless palace coup in which Saud was stripped of every power and Feisal became Regent in his place.

This time it seemed final. Ailing, scheming, archconservative with all but cash--and wildly profligate with that --Saud has repeatedly landed himself and his country so deeply in trouble that only Crown Prince Feisal, as his able longtime Premier, could bail him out. Then, when the immediate difficulty blew over, Saud sought to resume absolute power and cancel Feisal's cautious reforms. Just three months ago, Saud attempted a quick military grab (TIME, Jan. 3), which fizzled when he could not even trust the royal guard to back him.

After his trip to Cairo for the January "Arab summit meeting" of heads of anti-Israel states, Saud spent weeks politicking at home with the help of several sons and campaign photos of himself embracing Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, whom he had once plotted to assassinate. Fortnight ago, thinking that he had rebuilt his prestige, King Saud decreed Feisal's resignation.

In reply, Feisal convoked a council of the vast Saudi royal family, including nearly 50 princes of the blood, assorted sheiks and religious patriarchs. The council issued a fatwa, a religious fiat, that declared Saud no longer able to govern and authorized his brother to "discharge all external and internal affairs of state without having to refer to the King." When the news was announced by radio, every transistorized tribesman who was tuned to Mecca knew that this time it was the will of Allah.

Though they balked until a plane was actually warming up to cart them off into exile, King Saud's five rebellious sons finally kissed Feisal's hand in submission last week. Their capitulation may ease family pressure to banish Saud himself. Meanwhile Feisal, whose reforms in the past 18 months have disarmed the regime's Nasserite opposition, found his hand greatly strengthened. In an interview with an Arab journalist at the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the relaxed Regent even hinted that he plans to lead the country to true constitutional monarchy.

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