Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Is Dead

Abdullah

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is dead, Saudi state television announced his passing on early on Friday local time. Abdullah’s designated successor is Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is his 79-year-old half-brother. The Huffington Post reports:

Abdullah had been in poor health in recent months. Reuters reports that the king had been admitted to a Riyadh hospital in December for medical tests. The royal court announced in January that Abdullah was suffering from pneumonia.

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz is believed to have been born in 1923 or 1924 as one of 37 sons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdulaziz Al Saud. Abdullah’s mother was the eighth of the founder’s 16 wives and young Abdullah was brought up in a traditional setting, living long periods of time in the desert.

Abdullah officially came into power in 2005, after the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. However, he had been the de-facto ruler since 1995, when Fahd was incapacitated by a stroke.

The new king, Salman, is a former defense minister and governor of Riyadh. He is widely reported to be in poor health and is rumored to suffer from dementia. Last year, King Abdullah appointed his youngest surviving brother, 69-year-old Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, as second-in-line to the throne. Salman is considered moderate and is experienced in balancing the kingdom’s rapid modernization with the country’s conservative power base.