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Article: Corruption, hard times fuel desert discontent: Saudis quietly hope Abdullah assumes throne.(World)(Briefing/Middle East)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- September 29, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - When King Fahd went on vacation in July leaving Crown Prince Abdullah to "manage the country's affairs," some Saudis privately hoped the vacation would turn into permanent exile.
Though it seems unbelievable, the Saudi government appears to be going broke. Such an assertion would once have seemed ludicrous for a nation with a virtually unlimited supply of oil for sale. But no more.
In 1982 it had about $170 billion in cash reserves. Now it has debts, mostly internal, of nearly that much.
To critics, the king's long stay in Malaga, Spain, underscored a level of royal extravagance that lies behind the the nation's ...