DESTABILIZE THEM AND DEFUND WAHABBISM:

The biggest challenge facing the new king will be to maintain his country's leading position as guardian of the two holy places--Mecca and Medina. Islam holds a unique place in Saudi Arabia, dominating all aspects of law, politics and lifestyle. But the religious establishment is intensely conservative, and the Grand Mufti, Skeikh Abdul Aziz al-Skaykh, has issued decrees that have appalled many liberal Muslims. He has, for example, called for girls to be allowed to marry at the age of 12, for the destruction of all churches in Saudi Arabia, for an end to any inter-religious dialogue and for the demolition of many tombs, including that of the Prophet Muhammad, near the holy Kaaba in Mecca.

The House of Saud long ago made a compact with the Wahhabis, but has found itself increasingly at odds with their opposition to any reform. The late King Abdullah tried to introduce change quietly and gradually, and did much to boost women's education and give women greater access to jobs. He also insisted on sending an entire generation of young graduates to the West for further study, knowing that only this way might he be able to introduce Western technology and thinking and change the conservative Saudi mindset.

But the religious wars in the Middle East, and especially the threat of terrorism from extremist Islamists--many of whom studied at Muslim institutions funded by Saudi Arabia--have made it difficult to accommodate the ultra-conservative Wahhabi establishment with Saudi Arabia's economic and security needs.

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