Saudi king rejects talk of royal family rift

RIYADH, Jan 27 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has denied talk of rifts within the royal family which rules the world's biggest oil exporter as an absolute monarchy, according to an interview published today.

In the interview carried by state news agency SPA, the king said a heavily publicised appearance of numerous leading figures of the royal family at the return of a prince from a British hospital aimed to dispel talk of disputes.

''The reception was a response to any talk abroad concerning the cohesion and solidarity of this family and to Internet sites and forums that talk of an alleged rift,'' he said in the comments, also published in Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah.

''Our people understand, and this talk will not take their attention ... The whole Saudi family is together ... I advise the media not to listen to the stories of troublemakers.'' It was not clear what possible rift the king was referring to. He took steps in October to ensure consensus among a group of Saudi royals, including some younger princes, on who would succeed his half-brother Crown Prince Sultan as king by setting up a new succession committee.

Kings have so far been chosen from among the 44 sons of Abdul-Aziz bin Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state.

There has also been talk among diplomats and influential Saudis of policy disputes among the royals concerning Iraq.

Saudi Arabia fears a resurgent Iran and is concerned about the Shi'ite state's influence growing when US troops eventually quit Iraq, which like Iran has a Shi'ite majority.

In December, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, suddenly resigned. That followed comments by a Saudi security adviser suggesting Riyadh could send troops to protect fellow Sunni Muslims in Iraq and lower world oil prices to pressure Iran.

Diplomats have also said that recent publicity over a major arms sale to Saudi Arabia that Britain feared losing over an investigation into corruption had been a cause of dispute.

King Abdullah, thought to be in his early 80s, came to power in 2005 promising cautious reforms. He is seen by ordinary Saudis as keen to clean up government, where some clerics and dissidents have attacked corruption and bureaucracy.

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