On this day, 40 years ago, Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal was assassinated in palace in Riyadh by his half-brother’s son with history of mental illness. Faisal’s brother, Crown Prince Khaled, succeeded to throne. The killer, Faisal bin Musaid, was publicly excecuted on June 18, 1975, in the Saudi capital.
Faisal’s reign had significant popularity among Saudis. Among other things he managed to stabilize the kingdom’s bureaucracy, officially abolished slavery, and was behind the Saudi major economic growth. For our readers he is more known for withdrawing Saudi oil from world markets in protest over Western support for Israel during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. This action increased the price of oil and was the primary force behind the 1973 energy crisis.