CAIRO -- Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud, the heir apparent to the Saudi throne and one of the kingdom's most powerful princes until illness sapped his strength in recent years, has died.
The Royal Court announced the death Saturday morning, saying the prince had died abroad. State television immediately switched to broadcasting Quranic verses.
Sultan, who was the minister of defense and aviation, has reportedly been battling colon cancer since 2004. He has spent periods of up to a year outside the kingdom for treatment since 2008. A U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks described him in 2009 as "to all intents and purposes incapacitated."
He had been admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital over the summer, where in recent weeks he had been slipping in and out of a coma, according to several sources, not wanting to speak publicly about the royal family. A U.S. official confirmed that he died at the hospital.
Sultan, at least 80 and by some accounts 85, was a member of the Sudeiri seven, seven full brothers by the favorite wife of King Abdel Aziz, who founded the kingdom in 1932. They have formed a kind of sub-tribe within the ruling Al-Saud clan and often worked to block or stall King Abdullah's reform measures. Prince Nayef, the interior minister and also a Sudeiri, is expected to be named heir apparent.
Abdullah, who is recuperating from back surgery this month, had formed a new family council to deal
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with succession questions, particularly when the throne might pass to a new generation. This would be the first time the 35-member council would endorse the inheritance, rather than just the king.
Given the power of Nayef, the nation's top law enforcement officer since 1975, he is expected to be confirmed, a move also signaled by his appointment as second deputy prime minister in 2009.
The Saudi monarchy, which has sought to counter the revolutions shaking its neighbors, wants to be seen as stable while much of the Arab world is in political turmoil. Attempts to organize anti-government demonstrations in the kingdom have largely fizzled, while those that did emerge among the Shiite minority in the Eastern province were put down forcefully.