King Salman’s year of trouble

THE 79-year-old king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, has kept a brave face since succeeding his half-brother in January. Yet while any newly crowned king may suffer ill fortune, many of Salman’s woes are either chronic or, as whispers in the kingdom increasingly suggest, products of a failing system, compounded by a lack of transparency and shortcomings in leadership.

The collapse on September 11th of a construction crane at the Great Mosque in Mecca, which left more than 100 pilgrims dead, may have been a freak accident. But the stampede on September 24th, resulting in an official death toll of 769 pilgrims, was not; it follows a long string of mass fatalities during the haj pilgrimage that have defied Saudi efforts to make Islam’s holy places safe. This is embarrassing for King Salman, one of whose titles is Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Yet Saudi newspapers dutifully published a royal telegram dispatched to Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef in which the king praised his nephew, who chairs the committee responsible for organising the pilgrimage, for its “successful” outcome.