Saudi King Abdullah Dies, Brother Confirmed As Successor

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has died, and his brother Salman has been sworn in as the new king. Abdullah had been ruling as Saudi Arabia’s king since 2006 but has always been regarded as the country’s de facto leader for many decades before that. His brother Salman, believed to be 79, was the prince and acting defense minister since 2012. Prior to that, he was the acting governor of Riyadh Province for roughly 50 years.

News of the Saudi King’s death was announced on state television. Prior to the confirmation, reporters read verses from the Koran, which is often done amid the death of a senior member of the royal family.

King Abdullah had spent his final days in a hospital where he was being treated for a lung infection. He was 90-years-old.

As the new Saudi King, Salman has already called on the royal family’s Allegiance Council to recognize his brother-in-law and Abdullah’s director general Muqrin bin Abdulaziz as the new prince and heir.

As the largest oil exporter in the world and one of the west’s greatest Arab allies, Abdullah’s death certainly has huge implications. The late king was known for his iron fist policies against Iran and also pushed for increased recognition of economic deregulation and women’s rights.

Like Abdullah, Salman was also known for having friendly relations with the U.S. and its allies. Within his own country, though, the new monarch faces problems that have long plagued the nation, including a growing population, increased unemployment, and economic disparities between the wealthy class and the poor. The country has also faced international criticisms for its practice of public beheadings of condemned criminals, which received much scrutiny with the recent video release of a woman executed for the beating death of her 7-year-old stepdaughter.

King Abdullah was born as Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and was one of the many sons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. Abdullah had a strict upbringing with minimal education and was even imprisoned by his father once for failing to relinquish his seat to a visiting guest.

He was crowned prince in 1982 after his half-brother Fahd took the throne. He would assume an unofficial role as the king in 1995 when Fahd was hospitalized for a stroke.

He was also the first to appoint women into his Shura Council, a body of representatives that advises the king and government on policy. In 2009, he opened the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which permitted co-ed classrooms. It was a major departure from traditional customs where conversing with the opposite sex was prohibited.

News of Saudi King Abdullah’s death has been heard around the world. He leaves behind roughly a dozen wives and more than 30 children.

[photo credit: Rashad Hussain]

Saudi King Abdullah Dies, Brother Confirmed As Successor