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Saudis bury King Fahd with simple ceremony

This image made from Saudi TV shows sons of the late Saudi King Fahd carrying his body, wrapped in a plain brown cloth on a wooden plank bier, out of the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh after his pre-burial service yesterday. Heads of state from the Islamic world, Saudi princes and Islamic clerics prayed for the late King Fahd. PHOTO: AP

Muslim presidents and prime ministers joined ordinary Saudis to pray for the soul of King Fahd yesterday at a modest funeral in keeping with the kingdom's austere Islamic tradition.

Fahd died on Monday after 23 years ruling the strategic Gulf state, which is both the world's biggest oil exporter and the cradle of Islam -- drawing more than a billion faithful to turn five times a day toward Mecca in prayer.

In the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in the capital, Muslim leaders from around the world offered condolences to Fahd's successor and half-brother Abdullah, and performed Muslim prayers for the dead during the afternoon ceremony.

Fahd's body was carried into the huge mosque wrapped in a simple brown shroud. The bier was placed in front of the mourners who were surrounded by hundreds of security men.

After the brief prayer service, Fahd's body was carried on a wooden stretcher by al-Saud family members wearing traditional white robes and red-and-white checkered headdresses to his final resting place at the Al-Od public cemetery.

At the cemetery, al-Saud family members gathered under a sea of bright umbrellas shading them from the blazing summer heat for the burial ceremony.

Abdullah has run day-to-day affairs since the late king suffered a stroke in 1995. Abdullah is expected to maintain Saudi Arabia's commitment to stable oil markets and its close alliance with the West.

An official said security forces, who have been battling a wave of al-Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia, were taking the same precautions "that any other government would take to secure a huge event like this with very high-profile guests."

Western leaders and dignitaries, including Britain's Prince Charles, were due to arrive later to offer condolences after the funeral service and burial. Some are only expected today.

In line with Saudi Arabia's puritan Wahhabi school of Islam, which regards the veneration of tombs as idolatry, Fahd will be laid to rest in a simple, unmarked grave in a Riyadh cemetery.

"His grave will be like the grave of all Muslims ... There is no difference between him and other Muslims," said Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, the country's top cleric, who led the funeral prayers.

Unlike many Muslim states, Saudi Arabia has set no mourning period, in keeping with Wahhabi acceptance of God's will without question. Saudi flags, emblazoned with the proclamation "There is no God but Allah," flew at full mast.

Shops and businesses opened as usual in the capital yesterday.

Ordinary Saudis gathered at the funeral with leaders including Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

US President George W. Bush, who has promised a "close partnership" with Saudi Arabia under Abdullah, will send a delegation to offer condolences. Diplomats say it may include his father, former president George Bush, who sent US troops to Saudi Arabia in 1990 to launch the recapture of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein.

Saudis will pledge allegiance to Abdullah, who is at least 80, and new Crown Prince Sultan today.

Analysts say Abdullah's toughest challenges will be to implement political reforms and keep up the fight against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, which has waged a violent two-year campaign aimed at toppling the Saudi royal family.

Abdullah, the fifth son of Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdul-Aziz to ascend the throne, is a cautious reformer who has overseen modest economic and political liberalization.

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