{"id":35266,"date":"2015-01-23T07:33:04","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T06:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=35266"},"modified":"2015-01-23T07:33:04","modified_gmt":"2015-01-23T06:33:04","slug":"saudi-arabias-king-abdullah-dies-aged-91-battle-pneumonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/saudi-arabias-king-abdullah-dies-aged-91-battle-pneumonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Abdullah dies aged 91 after battle with pneumonia"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz &#8211;\u00a0the powerful U.S. ally who sought to modernise the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms \u2013 has died aged 91, it has been confirmed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The royal had been in hospital since December, battling pneumonia.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">King Abdullah\u2019s half-brother Salman has become king, a statement attributed to Salman said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">His death was confirmed on state television early on Friday morning, Saudi time, with channels cutting to Koranic verses \u2013 an action which often signifies the death of a top royal.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-43d1c25f569fcccc\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/23\/24F5993300000578-2922592-image-m-21_1421971869069.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has died aged 91<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-26d5b5638c6cff0e\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/23\/24F5A11100000578-2922592-image-a-26_1421973019684.jpg\" alt=\"audi Arabia's King Abdullah, left, speaks with Prince Salman, the Saudi King's brother and Riyadh governor, right, before the king's departure to United States, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Abdullah, left, speaks with Prince Salman, the Saudi King\u2019s brother and Riyadh governor, right, before the king\u2019s departure to United States, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">A statement released by the new king read: \u2018His Highness Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and all members of the family and the nation mourn the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who passed away at exactly 1am this morning.\u2019<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Abdullah had ruled Saudi Arabia as king since 2005, but had run the country as de facto regent for a decade before that after his predecessor King Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">King Salman, thought to be 79, has been crown prince and defence minister since 2012. He was governor of Riyadh province for five decades before that.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">By immediately appointing Muqrin as his heir, subject to the approval of a family Allegiance Council, Salman has moved to avert widespread speculation about the immediate path of the royal succession in the world\u2019s top oil exporter.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-987812047130b082\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/22\/24F5984F00000578-2922592-image-m-11_1421969357362.jpg\" alt=\"King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005, is seen here with Queen Elizabeth during a state banquet in his honour in 2007\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005, is seen here with Queen Elizabeth during a state banquet in his honour in 2007<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">King Abdullah was born in 1924 in\u00a0Riyadh, one of the dozens of sons of Saudi Arabia\u2019s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">He only had a rudimentary education, and had a strict upbringing \u2013 exemplified by three days he spent in prison as a young man as punishment by his father for failing to give his seat to a visitor, a violation of Bedouin hospitality.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Abdullah was selected as crown prince in 1982 on the day his half-brother Fahd ascended to the throne.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The decision was challenged by a full brother of Fahd, Prince Sultan, who wanted the title for himself.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">But the family eventually closed ranks behind Abdullah to prevent splits.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">By the time he became de facto regent in 1995, when his predecessor King Fahd had a stroke, he was known to foreign diplomats as devout and conservative with strong ties to the kingdom\u2019s Bedouin tribes.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-fa387d2fdb6bcfc9\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/22\/24F5B0ED00000578-2922592-image-a-18_1421971092269.jpg\" alt=\"Prime Minister David Cameron receives the King Abdullah Decoration One from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the Palace of the King in Jeddah\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Prime Minister David Cameron receives the King Abdullah Decoration One from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the Palace of the King in Jeddah<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">King Abdullah sought to modernise the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms, including nudging open greater opportunities for women during his 10-year reign.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The King, who acquired a stutter as a child, was also a strong supporter\u00a0education, building universities at home and increasing scholarships abroad for Saudi students.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">He hoped to build a more skilled workforce in a country where more than half of the 20million-strong population is under the age of 25.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">However, he and fellow Sunni Arab monarchs also staunchly opposed the Middle East\u2019s wave of pro-democracy uprisings, seeing them as a threat to stability and their own rule.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-a1ee81b9bfbfd4ed\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/22\/24F597C100000578-2922592-image-m-15_1421969941058.jpg\" alt=\"King Abdullah with Prince Charles at the start of his 2007 state visit\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>King Abdullah with Prince Charles at the start of his 2007 state visit<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-ee302530daa60f8e\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/23\/24F5BA5100000578-2922592-image-a-22_1421971953050.jpg\" alt=\"King Abdullah and Prince Philip during the same 2007 visit\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>King Abdullah and Prince Philip during the same 2007 visit<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Despite being allied with America, Abdullah was not afraid to push against them.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">When he was regent, he pressed Washington to withdraw the troops it had deployed in the kingdom since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The U.S. finally did so in 2003.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">In 2000, Abdullah convinced the Arab League to approve an unprecedented offer that all Arab states would agree to peace with Israel if it withdrew from lands it captured in 1967.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The next year, he sent his ambassador in Washington to tell the Bush administration that it was too unquestioningly biased in favor of Israel and that the kingdom would from now on pursue its own interests apart from Washington\u2019s.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Bush soon after advocated for the first time the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-f5d851706b1680ea\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/23\/24F5ACD000000578-2922592-image-a-24_1421972708741.jpg\" alt=\"Pope Benedict XVI and King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud met in 2007 - the first ever meeting between a Pope and a reigning Saudi king\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Pope Benedict XVI and King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud met in 2007 \u2013 the first ever meeting between a Pope and a reigning Saudi king<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Abdullah was forced to negotiate tricky waters: 15 of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, while many pointed out that the baseline ideology for al-Qaida and other groups stemmed from Saudi Arabia\u2019s Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">But when the militants began a wave of violence in the country in 2003, aimed at toppling the monarchy, Abdullah cracked down hard.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">For the next three years, security forces battled militants, finally forcing them to flee to neighboring Yemen.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">There, they created a new al-Qaida branch, and Saudi Arabia has played a behind-the-scenes role in fighting it.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-af2616c293edf264\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/22\/24F5991B00000578-2922592-image-a-13_1421969432571.jpg\" alt=\"The late Saudi king - pictured here with President Obama in 2010 - had been in hospital since December\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>The late Saudi king \u2013 pictured here with President Obama in 2010 \u2013 had been in hospital since December<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia reveals on its website that King Abdullah \u2018retained a love of the desert, along with a love of horsemanship\u2019 throughout his life.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">He is also said to have loved to read, establishing two libraries, the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh, and one in Casablanca, Morocco.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">King Abdullah was admitted to the King Abdulaziz Medical City of the National Guard in Riyadh in December to undergo medical tests, according to state media.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The royal court earlier this month said that the king was suffering from pneumonia and had temporarily needed help to breathe through a tube, but that the procedure was successful.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-9bc149db1f68a8ff\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/23\/24F5A2BA00000578-2922592-image-a-25_1421972774536.jpg\" alt=\"Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud wears traditional clothing, with a sabre, and the 'khanjar', a curved Arab dagger, in preparation of performing the traditional Bedouin war dance using swords called the 'Ardha' on January, in 2003\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud wears traditional clothing, with a sabre, and the \u2018khanjar\u2019, a curved Arab dagger, in preparation of performing the traditional Bedouin war dance using swords called the \u2018Ardha\u2019 on January, in 2003<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">His death was rumoured earlier today, however a member of the royal family took to social media to say reports of his death were premature.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\u2018All that is being reported about King Abdullah\u2019s death is far from the truth,\u2019 Ibrahem al-Rawsa, identified as a journalist at state-run Saudi Press Agency, wrote on his Twitter account.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">A member of the royal family wrote: \u2018I give you good news. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is fine and there is no truth to the rumours going around.\u2019<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">He was referring to King Abdullah\u2019s official title.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0King Salamn \u2013 who is now at the head of the world\u2019s top oil producing country \u2013 had recently taken over the ailing monarch\u2019s responsibilities.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">King Salman has been part of the ruling clique of princes for decades and is thought likely to continue the main thrusts of Saudi strategic policy, including maintaining the alliance with the United States and working towards energy market stability.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">During his five decades as Riyadh governor he was reputedly adept at managing the delicate balance of clerical, tribal and princely interests that determine Saudi policy, while maintaining good relations with the West.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-29324d34a5e5e661\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/01\/23\/24F5BDA500000578-2922592-image-a-19_1421971436313.jpg\" alt=\"The new king Salman, pictured here last year, is thought to be likely to continue the main thrusts of his half-brother's policies\" width=\"500\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>+10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>The new king Salman, pictured here last year, is thought to be likely to continue the main thrusts of his half-brother\u2019s policies<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">In the long term Saudi rulers have to manage the needs of a rapidly growing population plagued by structural unemployment, and an economy that remains overly dependent on oil revenue and undermined by lavish subsidies.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Saudi Arabia, which holds more than a fifth of the world\u2019s crude oil, also exerts some influence over the world\u2019s 1.6billion Muslims through its guardianship of Mecca and Medina, Islam\u2019s holiest sites.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Most senior members of the ruling al-Saud family are thought to favour similar positions on foreign and energy policy, but incoming kings have traditionally chosen to appoint new ministers to head top ministries like oil and finance.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">In a country where the big ministries are dominated by royals, successive kings have kept the oil portfolio reserved for commoners and insisted on maintaining substantial spare output capacity to help reduce market volatility.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz &#8211;\u00a0the powerful U.S. ally who sought to modernise the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms \u2013 has died aged 91, it has&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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