King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has died at the age of 84. His half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, had been named be his successor. Fahd had been Saudi Arabia’s ruler since 1982 though he delegated much of his power 10 years ago to the Crown Prince after he suffered a stroke. King Fahd had close relations with Washington. In 1990, Fahd allowed the Pentagon to station hundreds of thousands of troops in Saudi Arabia ahead of the first Gulf War. The move was heavily criticized by many inside the Saudi kingdom including Osama Bin Laden. At the same time, analysts say Fahd helped fuel the rise of Islamic extremism by making multiple concessions to hard-liners, hoping to boost his Islamic credentials.