DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has overcome conservative clerics to push cautious changes in the world's top oil exporter, aimed at reconciling Islamic tradition with the needs of a modern economy.
On Friday, the octogenarian monarch, who has suffered recurring back problems that have led him to delegate authority in the past to younger princes, appointed his Interior Minister and half-brother Prince Nayef as his new heir after the death of Crown Prince Sultan.
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