Saudi Crown Prince Dead

The Saudi royal family says Crown Prince Nayef has died in a US hospital. The statement from King Abdullah says the prince died today and will be buried tomorrow after prayers in Mecca, but it gave no more details. Nayef, in his 70s, was the hard-line interior minister who spearheaded Saudi Arabia's fierce crackdown against al-Qaeda's branch in the country. Nayef was named crown prince just last year after the death of the previous heir to the throne, who was in his 80s. King Abdullah himself is in his late 80s. The next crown prince may well be 76-year-old defense minister Prince Salman, says al-Jazeera. (More Saudi Arabia stories.)