FOR all the attention Egypt’s stricken Hosni Mubarak received this week, the death of another antediluvian hardliner in the Arab world’s other great power is more significant. Prince Nayef, heir apparent to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, epitomised the ruling family’s resistance to change. The interior ministry, which he ran for the past 37 years, has been the bane of reformers. So far there has been no sign that his death will free the forces of change. But time is no longer on the side of the House of Saud. If it wants to survive, the ageing royal family needs to get moving.
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