King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has died at the age of 90 and will be succeeded by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz.
According to an official statement from the Royal Council, King Abdullah passed away at 1AM local time in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
The official statement added that the funeral procession will be held in Riyadh after evening prayers on Friday.
Meanwhile, Crown Prince Salman has appeared on Saudi state television mourning King Abdullah.
Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, who was Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief between 2005 and 2012, will replace Salman as Crown Prince
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Interior Mohammed bin Nayef has been named the Deputy Crown Prince.
Saudi Arabian television channels run by MBC have meanwhile started playing Quranic verses to mourn the death of King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005.
King Abdullah had suffered from pneumonia in December and was hospitalised for treatment, raising concerns over the King’s health.
Who is the new king?
Crown Prince Salman, 79, is the half-brother of the late King Abdullah and was the governor of the Riyadh province from 1963 until 2011 and has served as the country’s Minister of Defence since 2011.
Upon being appointed Crown Prince in 2012, Salman was touted for his focus on improving the Kingdom’s economy. The new ruler is also known for his shrewd diplomatic skills, but he is known to move cautiously and slowly when it comes to social and political reforms within the Kingdom.
According to Al-Akhbar, Salman “has advanced opinions on reform and is welcoming of dialogue with opposition members. He enjoys a plethora of relationships with intellectuals from various political persuasions, both inside and outside the country.”
During his time as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, following his appointment as Crown Prince, Salman has remained steadfast in his support for maintaining Saudi Arabia’s moderate oil pricing and supply levels. The new ruler has also maintained close ties with Western states and other Sunni Muslim countries.
The new King is also a 10 percent owner of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group, which publishes daily newspapers across the Kingdom.
According to reports in The Atlantic and The Economist, Salman suffers from poor health, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. While these reports have never been confirmed by Saudi Arabia’s royal family, the new king suffered from a stroke in 2011, impacting his ability to properly use his left arm.
World Leaders Pay Tribute
World leaders have paid tribute to the late King Abdullah moments after his death was officially announced by Saudi Arabia’s Royal Council.
US President Barack Obama hailed King Abdullah as a bold leader and praised the Kingdom’s “warm” and “genuine” relationship with the United States.
French President Francois Hollande meanwhile described the late King as “a statesman whose work has profoundly marked the history of his country.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has also sent his condolences, with state media Al-Ahram reporting that the President has cut his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos short in order to attend the funeral of King Abdullah on Friday.
Egypt’s President Sisi had flown to Saudi Arabia on January 19 to meet the late King. However, a deterioration in the health of King Abdullah prevented the Egyptian President from being able to meet him. Instead, President Sisi had met with Crown Prince Salman.
Meanwhile, Al-Arabiya reports that Jordan has declared 40 days of mourning.
Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s top Islamic authority, also paid its tributes to the late King and offered its condolences to Saudi Arabians.
Comments (64)
It’s 2015, why do we still have kings and royalty?
It’s 2015, why are people still wearing ripped jeans?
@Tawhid
Because wearing ripped jeans is much much better than wearing Pajamas and Burkas 24/7!
umm actually…. wearing pajamas is more comfortable and better in every sense. You will know when you wear it.
Can’t say that about Burka though
The standard Arab attire is way more comfortable, specially in warmer climates. Pants will keep you warmer, but will not give you that sense of absolute freedom.
Maybe for men, who wear white, but for women, who are attired in black from head to toe to help suffocate them in the heat, the standard Arab attire is likely less than comfortable. Actually, men do wear pants under their thobes.
It’s 2015, why hasn’t someone told ISIS that we don’t pick on the Japanese anymore?
The real question why is the American Media Anglophiles so addicted to the American hating Britshits, the biggest collectors of Welfare on the Planet!
The Britshits/Anglophiles are a real Royal pain in the %^&*$
An Anti-British comment is never far away, is it? Even when us Brits have nothing to do with the topic at hand. I really can’t stand people like you.
Well you tortured and raped half the fucking world for centuries… you deserve a lot more hate than you get tbh.
Oh, and Britain is the only country in the world that has done wrong, is it? Let me tell you this, no country’s history is clean, far from it. Germany, for example, should we hate Germans because of Nazism? Should we hate the Chinese for culturally raping Tibet? Should we hate Russia for Stalin communism? Or maybe we should hate Americans because their country pokes its nose into everybody’s affair s(uninvited). Or maybe we should hate America for nuking Japan and killing 246,000 innocent people. Take a long look in the mirror.
Well Germans DO get a LOT of hate. Now I don’t believe in hating British for the British Empire’s wrongs, that would be silly. Brits alive today have nothing to do with that.
However it is still rather amazing how little criticism Britian gets for all the shit they have done in the past. Although the British seem to be more willing to admit past guilt than say Americans. The British acknowledge the past existance of the British empire at least and that it was forged through violence.
While e.g. American de facto rule of South America, Caribbian and a number of other places isn’t really acknowledged. I mean the whole of the US itself is an Empire created through conquest. Except there is hardly any of the original inhabitants left to fight for independence, as was the case in British ex-colonies.
That has to be one of the most ridiculous (and uneducated) comments I have ever read. Britain has undoubtedly been a positive influence on the world – more than most if not all.countries I can think of.
Yes people loved being subjugated… Btw you’re likely thinking of the spread of science and other western ideas. That didn’t require British conquering of peoples.
I’m thinking about the abolition of slavery, the introduction of rule of law, the development of the countries infrastructure. It should be noted that a lot of the empire wasn’t actually conquered they were the spoils of war from conflicts with primarily European countries or inherited from companies (East India company) or individuals (Rhodes).
Now, We here in the US haven’t been around many Centuries, But as one who recognizes OUR ability to torture, rape, and generally destabilize the planet, I must say that stone throwing from your own glass house is ill-advised
You are a special kind of stupid aren’t you? Actually don’t answer that it’s already pretty clear.
Us personally? Lol, grow up
My own ancestors were personally affected by your genocidal actions, you can fuck yourself with a nuke for all I care.
I’m not entirely sure what you just said, but it sounded like you agree that the British fucking suck.
It’s 2015, why do the british still have royalty?
Just in case you don’t actually realise, “our” Queen does nothing, nobody is really interested about her unless, you know….something happens? But…yeah….no idea why we still have royalty…
I’m well aware of that, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t use it as an excuse to hate on your shitty country, culture, and people. 🙂
May I ask, where are you from?
‘Murica
In fact, don’t reply. I’ve gone through your internet based profiles, seen that you argue with everyone. Even your friends don’t like you, mocking the fact you have no motivation about getting jobs. You look like a fucking bum too. Sorry, but you have no right to say fuck all about anyone when you are at the bottom of the pile. I’m taking a shit whilst replying to you as that the only time I HAVE for you whilst I’m earning a good, very good salary at the age of 22. I have a good looking girlfriend, 2 cars and about to buy a house. I’m deepling in love and love my life. Good luck. You won’t experience any of that. Just hatred. How sad.
lol
> I’m taking a shit whilst replying to you as that the only time I HAVE for you whilst I’m earning a good, very good salary at the age of 22. I have a good looking girlfriend, 2 cars and about to buy a house. I’m deepling in love and love my life.
Wow, congrats man, you’re so awesome. Everyone thinks you’re so awesome.
Let us call our friends at Birmingham to ask that.
I think the questions should be why do countries still get ruled by a Monarch in 2015. Most monarchy’s today are democracies were the king or queen is a symbolic figurehead. But in Saudi Arabia the whole royal family is a buch of leeches getting fat of Saudi oil, while guest workers work in slave like conditions for their “glory”.
It’s 2015, why do we still have property-redistributing, wannabe crypto-communists like you?
[…] by Epikmunch to worldnews [link] [686 […]