Daily News Analysis

Saudi King Abdullah dead! Again?

Crescent International

Rajab 17, 14342013-05-27

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The royal court has not issued any statement about the king’s condition. What should it say: that the monarch is in a vegetative state?

London,

May 27, 2013, 17:05 EDT

If he knows anything about Oscar Wilde, Saudi King Abdullah would surely mutter: “Reports of my death are grossly exaggerated.” But Abdullah is no Oscar Wilde. Chances are he has not even heard of the American wit though the two share something in common: moustache. Of course, the king’s moustache is delicately manicured, pruned and appropriately coloured to give the aging monarch a fresh look. Wilde’s moustache, like his name, was truly wild.

Rumours are again circulating about Abdullah’s death. At his age, it is inevitable. Pushing 90, King Abdullah can consider himself lucky to be still alive, if he truly is alive, although rumour mills are working overtime speculating that he is clinically dead. This is based on the fact that the monarch has not been seen in public recently. Now this does not necessarily mean that he is dead, like not alive and breathing and things of that sort. It is possible that some of his motor functions are not up to speed. His predecessor King Fahd had lost control of his motor functions in his last years and he was often found to defecate in his bath tub!

So let us go to the source of this news. This comes to us by way of Press TV (May 27) that quotes a Saudi journalist working for the London-based Asharq al-Awsat as saying the Saudi monarch has been clinically dead since Wednesday (May 22). The journalist also quoted medical sources in the desert kingdom as saying that the monarch’s vital organs, including his heart, kidneys and lungs, have stopped functioning.

So how is he kept alive? Modern science has made great progress and the kingdom’s hospitals are equipped with all kinds of wonderful gadgets. It would not be difficult to put him on life support, like a defibrillator as well as ventilator to keep him artificially alive. After all, Arial Sharon, the Butcher of Beirut, lies in a vegetative state, his ponderous bulk reduced to a shell, since 2006. He neither lives nor dies. This must be Divine retribution for crimes against innocent people—men, women and children.

Taste ye painful death here, as Fire awaits thee there!

The royal court has not issued any statement about the king’s condition. What should it say: that the monarch is in a vegetative state? That would not be polite even if it were true. In the secretive kingdom, speculation is the only thing going because real news is hard to come by. Abdullah’s absence from the public domain and his duties being taken over by Crown Prince Salman are bound to give rise of speculation. The royal court could help and issue a clarification.

It is the second time since November 2012 that Asharq al-Awsat has reported the king’s death. Second time lucky or should we wait for third time lucky?

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