LONDON, 2 August 2005 — In the history of Saudi Arabia, King Fahd will stand alongside his father as an outstanding ruler. The great achievement of King Abdul Aziz was the unification of the Kingdom; the great achievement of his son, King Fahd, was its modernization. He oversaw, first as crown prince then as king, a period of unprecedented change.

“From camels to Cadillacs” is an expression Saudis often use when describing the changes they have seen in their lives and in the country. It is an accurate assessment, and it was the period King Fahd shaped.

It was a time of massive economic and infrastructural development - of building schools, hospitals, roads, ports, airports, industrial cities, housing, factories; it saw the expansion of the Holy Mosque at Makkah, the building and opening of the King Fahd causeway to Bahrain, the astounding growth of Jeddah, of Riyadh, of all the Kingdom’s towns and cities. It was progress hitherto unimaginable.

Today, in a country where the vast majority of the population were not born when Fahd became king, many Saudis do not realize the extent to which the Kingdom has changed. It is beyond their personal experience.

They do not realize the extent of King Fahd’s achievements or his ambitions and hopes, not just for the Kingdom, but for the region, for the Arab world, for the Islamic world. Their adult knowledge and experience of King Fahd was in his declining years when incapacity prevented him from personally pursing those hopes and trying to make them reality.

But now it can be put in perspective. His was an exemplary life, dedicated to service - not, as is sometimes the case with rulers, to power for power’s sake. Not for mere form did he choose to drop the title “His Majesty” and use instead “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”. The change symbolized not only religious sensibilities but also a vision of monarchy very different to that of earlier ages, a vision of the king as a steward entrusted with the responsibility of serving others.

From earliest youth, whether it was representing it at the inauguration of the UN in 1945 in San Francisco or the coronation of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 1953 he was reared in the service the Kingdom. But it was service with so much more. Whether as education or interior minister, deputy prime minister, crown prince or king, there was bold vision, based on a deep sense of responsibility. He was driven to make the make the country better - and not just the country but the region, the Islamic world, the whole world. He was keenly aware of Saudi Arabia’s responsibility, as a wealthy oil producer, to help poorer nations. The Western media ignores the fact that at his direction Saudi Arabia has over the past 30 years spent some 5.5 percent of its GNP on overseas aid. The UN recommended minimum is 0.7 percent, a figure that most developed countries still fail to achieve.

There was responsibility too to ensure peace and justice in the region and beyond. His commitment to Arab unity and Islamic unity (both in the sense of unity of purpose and action as well as organic unity) was total. His stewardship was marked by a resolve to use all means at the Kingdom’s disposal to further the cause of peace and unity in Middle East, whether it was attempts to solve the Palestinian-Israeli issue, Lebanon, Afghanistan, conflict in Sudan, in the Horn of Africa or in any other area. He strove to resolve conflicts and disputes. Under his aegis, Saudi Arabia’s voice became the voice of the Arab world, of Arab reason and moderation, of Arab realpolitik, striving to achieve workable compromise, based on justice.

Throughout much of history, countries have marked different eras by the reigns of kings and dynasties. The Ummayyads, the Ming dynasty, the Elizabethan period, the Napoleonic era. People in future will surely talk of the Fahd era, the era of Saudi Arabia’s great economic and political move forward, an era that lasted longer than the 23 years he reigned. And it is an era that has not ended with his death, a death we mourn but at the same time give thanks for a life completed, a life so full of achievement.

The era continues, because as we know, there is no difference of purpose between King Fahd and the new Custodian of the Two Holy Mosqueses King Abdullah. Saudi Arabia will continue to develop and continue to play its role at the heart of the Arab nation.