King Abdullah, a Shrewd Force Who Reshaped Saudi Arabia, Dies at 90

By DOUGLAS MARTIN and BEN HUBBARDJAN. 22, 2015

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2007. CreditDylan Martinez/Reuters

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who came to the throne in old age and earned a reputation as a cautious reformer even as the Arab Spring revolts toppled heads of state and Islamic State militants threatened the Muslim establishment that he represented, died on Friday, according to a statement on state television. He was 90.

The Royal Court said in a statement broadcast across the kingdom that the king had died early Friday. The royal court did not disclose the exact cause of death. An announcement quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency said the king had a lung infection when he was admitted on Dec. 31 to a Riyadh hospital.

The king’s death adds yet another element of uncertainty in a region already overwhelmed by crises and as Saudi Arabia is itself in a struggle with Iran for regional dominance.

The royal family moved quickly to assure a smooth transition of power in a nation that is a close ally of the United States, the world’s largest exporter ofoil and the religious center of the Islamic faith. In a televised statement, a brother of Abdullah, Crown Prince Salman, announced that the king had died and that he had assumed the throne.

Abdullah, left, with Crown Prince Salman, right, in 2010. Salman announced Friday that he had assumed the throne. CreditSaudi Press Agency, via Associated Press

Salman’s ascension appears to signal that the kingdom will preserve its current policies, but he faces exceptional new challenges. Though Saudi Arabia has traditionally preferred to push its agenda through checkbook diplomacy, it has taken a far more muscular approach since the Arab Spring, offering generous support to its allies, like Egypt, while working to oppose adversaries like President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Even as the drop in the price of oil has depleted its own treasury, it has steadfastly refused to cut the supply, hoping to increase market share at the expense of adversaries that are less able to pump oil at low prices.

“As our countries worked together to confront many challenges, I always valued King Abdullah’s perspective and appreciated our genuine and warm friendship,” President Obama said in a statement issued by the White House. “As a leader, he was always candid and had the courage of his convictions.”

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced that he was to lead the American delegation “to pay our respects and offer condolences.”

Accidents of birth and geology made Abdullah one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful men. In control of a fifth of the world’s known petroleum reserves, he traveled to medical appointments abroad in a fleet of jumbo jets, and the changes he wrought in Saudi society were fueled by gushers of oil money.

As king he also bore the title of custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, making him one of the faith’s most important figures.

Abdullah had grown accustomed to the levers of power long before hisascension to the throne in August 2005. After his predecessor, King Fahd, a half brother, had a stroke in November 1995, Abdullah, then the crown prince, ruled in the king’s name.

Yet Abdullah spoke as plainly as the Bedouin tribesmen with whom he had been sent to live in his youth. He refused to be called “your majesty” and discouraged commoners from kissing his hand. He shocked the 7,000 or so Saudi princes and princesses by cutting their allowances. He was described as ascetic, or as ascetic as someone in the habit of renting out entire hotels could be.

Abdullah’s reign was a constant effort to balance desert traditions with the demands of the modern world, making him appear at times to be shifting from one to the other.

When popular movements and insurgencies overthrew or threatened long-established Arab rulers from Tunisia to Yemen in 2011, he reacted swiftly.

On his return from three months of treatment for a herniated disk and a blood clot in New York and Morocco, his government spent $130 billion to build 500,000 units of low-income housing, to bolster the salaries of government employees and to ensure the loyalty of religious organizations.

He also created a Facebook page, where citizens were invited to present their grievances directly to him, although it was not known how many entries actually reached him.

But in at least two telephone calls he castigated President Obama for encouraging democracy in the Middle East, saying it was dangerous. And he showed no tolerance for the sort of dissent unfolding elsewhere.

The grand mufti, the kingdom’s highest religious official, proclaimed that Islam forbade street protests. Scores of protesters who failed to heed that message were arrested in the chiefly Shiite eastern provinces. A new law imposed crippling fines for offenses, like threatening national security, that could be broadly interpreted. Reaching beyond his borders, Abdullah sent tanks to help quell an uprising in neighboring Bahrain.

Moves of Moderation

President George W. Bush escorting Abdullah, then the crown prince, to Mr. Bush’s private office on his ranch in April 2005. CreditPool photo by Rod Aydelotte

Still, Abdullah became, in some ways, a force of moderation. He contested Al Qaeda’s militant interpretations of the faith as justifying, even compelling, terrorist acts. He ordered that textbooks be purged of their most extreme language and sent 900 imams to re-education sessions. He had hundreds of militants arrested and some beheaded.

But he was also mindful that his family had, since the 18th century, derived its authority from an alliance with the strict Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam. He accordingly made only modest changes to the kingdom’s conservative clerical establishment. When Islamic State forces conquered vast stretches of Syria and Iraq, imposing a creed linked to Saudi Arabia’s own, the kingdom was slow to respond.

However, Abdullah chastised senior clerics for not speaking out more forcibly against the jihadists, and he eventually sent Saudi pilots to participate in an American-led campaign against the Islamic State.

Abdullah’s Saudi Arabia had hurtled from tribal pastoralism to advanced capitalism in little more than a generation. The fundamentalist clerics who gave the family legitimacy remained a powerful force. Women who appeared in public without the required covering risked arrest or a beating from the religious police.

Abdullah did make changes that were seen as important in the Saudi context. He allowed women to work as supermarket cashiers and appointed a woman as a deputy minister. At the $12.5 billion research university he built and named for himself, women study beside men.

However, he did not fulfill a promise made to Barbara Walters of ABC News in his first televised interview as king in October 2005: that he would allow women to drive, a hugely contentious issue in Saudi Arabia.

Although he ordered the kingdom’s first elections for municipal councils in 2005, a promised second election, in October 2009, in which women would vote, was postponed until September 2011. Then in March of that year, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs announced that the question of women voting would be put off indefinitely “because of the kingdom’s social customs.”

Abdullah’s greatest legacy, however, may prove to be a scholarship program that sent tens of thousands of young Saudi men and women abroad to study at Western universities and colleges. It has been suggested that the changes long resisted by conservative forces — resistance that even a king could not overcome — would one day come about as those men and women rose in the government, industry and academia.

Perhaps Abdullah’s most daunting challenge arrived in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with the revelation that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. The royal family at first railed at what it called a vicious smear campaign against the kingdom, then ruthlessly suppressed known militants — not least because the monarchy itself was a main target of Al Qaeda.

Striking a balance was almost always Abdullah’s preference. He strove to keep oil prices high, but not so high that they prompted consumers to abandon petroleum, then hedged his bets by investing billions in solar energy research. In 2008, he convened a meeting of world religious leaders to promote tolerance, but held it in Madrid rather than Saudi Arabia, where the public practice of religions other than Islam is outlawed.

Yet Abdullah could, and did, take strong positions. He denounced the American-led invasion of Iraq as “an illegal occupation”; proposed a comprehensive peace plan for the Middle East that included recognition of Israel by Arab nations; and urged in a secret cable that the United States attack Iran, Saudi Arabia’s great rival. “Cut off the head off the snake,” he said.

His kingdom’s interests always came first. Although American companies discovered and developed the Saudi oil fields, he cut deals with Russian, Chinese and European petroleum companies. He made it clear that the world’s energy appetites mattered less than Saudi Arabia’s future.

A Rigorous Upbringing

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud was born in Riyadh in 1924 into a vast, complicated family. His father, Abdul Aziz, had as many as 22 wives.

Abdul Aziz, whose ancestors founded a precursor to the present Saudi state in 1744, chose his wives partly to secure alliances with other Arabian tribes. Abdullah’s mother, Fahda bint Asi al-Shuraim, was a daughter of the chief of the Shammar, whose influence extended into Syria, Iraq and Jordan.

Abdullah in 2014. CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

Abdullah was Fahda’s only son. She also had two daughters.

King Abdul Aziz was not an indulgent father to his dozens of sons. He was quoted as saying, “I train my own children to walk barefoot, to rise two hours before dawn, to eat but little, to ride horses bareback.”

When the young Abdullah once neglected to offer his seat to a guest, Abdul Aziz sentenced him to three days in prison.

Abdullah, who overcame a stutter, was educated in religion, Arab literature and science by Islamic scholars at the royal court. From the Bedouin nomads, he learned traditional ways, including horsemanship and desert warfare. In 1962, he was appointed commander of the National Guard, which draws recruits from the Bedouin tribes, protects the king and acts as a counterweight to the army.

Four of Abdullah’s half brothers preceded him to the throne.

King Khalid appointed Abdullah as second deputy prime minister in 1975. In 1982, Fahd, Khalid’s successor, named him deputy prime minister and crown prince.

After Fahd’s stroke, Abdullah ran the government at first as regent. Political pressures later forced the removal of the regent title, but Abdullah remained the effective decision maker. He refused to sign any official papers with his own name as long as his stricken brother lived. Fahd died on Aug. 1, 2005.

One of King Abdullah’s first official acts was to pardon two Libyans accused of plotting to kill him, a result of Egypt’s engineering a reconciliation between the two nations. He also pardoned three Saudi academics who were in prison for advocating a constitutional monarchy.

He went on to establish job-training programs to help ease severe unemployment among educated young Saudis, to develop long-wastednatural gas as a commodity that could be exported, and to bring Saudi Arabia into the World Trade Organization. He became the first Saudi head of state to meet a pope, Benedict XVI, in 2007.

Although he reaffirmed his kingdom’s longstanding alliance with the United States, tensions arose with events. Abdullah refused, for instance, to permit American bases on Saudi territory for the Iraq invasion in 2003, something he had allowed in the first Gulf War.

‘For the Greater Good’

The king also grappled with domestic crises. The deaths of 15 girls in a dormitory fire in Mecca in 2002 caused an international uproar when it was learned that the religious police had not let them escape because they were not properly dressed. Furious, the king dismissed the head of women’s education.

In 2007, he pardoned a teenage girl who had been sentenced to six months in jail and 100 lashes after being raped. She was convicted of being found in a car alone with a man who was not her relative, a crime in Saudi law.

Though Abdullah made it clear that he thought the girl was guilty, pleasing the religious authorities, he pardoned her, he said, “for the greater good.”

In line with Islamic law, Abdullah kept no more than four wives at once, and was married at least 13 times, said Joseph Kechichian, who studies the royal family as a senior fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh.

Abdullah fathered at least seven sons, nearly all of whom have occupied powerful positions as provincial governors and officers in the national guard, Dr. Kechichian said. Of his 15 known daughters, one is a prominent physician, and another has appeared on television to advocate women’s rights.

Abdullah may have resembled his warrior father, but he had a modern sensibility. A diplomatic cable revealed by WikiLeaks in 2010 said that he had suggested to an American counterterrorism official that electronic chips be implanted in detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

He said it had worked with horses and falcons, to which the American replied, “Horses don’t have good lawyers.”

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ʿAbd Allāh, also spelled Abdullah, in full ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (born c. 1923—died January 23, 2015, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), king of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015. As crown prince (1982–2005), he had served as the country’s de facto ruler following the 1995 stroke of his half brother King Fahd (reigned 1982–2005).

ʿAbd Allāh was one of King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Saʿūd’s 37 sons. For his support of Crown Prince Fayṣal (1964–75) during Fayṣal’s power struggle with King Saʿūd(1953–64), ʿAbd Allāh was rewarded in 1962 with command of the Saudi National Guard. In 1975 King Khālid (1975–82), Fayṣal’s successor, appointed him deputy prime minister, and in 1982 King Fahd appointed him crown prince and first deputy prime minister. In 1995 Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke, and ʿAbd Allāh briefly served as regent the following year. Although Fahd subsequently returned to power, ʿAbd Allāh ran the daily affairs of the country and became king after Fahd died in 2005.

ʿAbd Allāh was committed to preserving Arab interests, but he also sought to maintain strong ties with the West, especially with the United States. In 2001 relations between the two countries grew strained over Saudi claims that the U.S. government was not evenhanded in its approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The situation worsened later in the year, following the September 11 attacksagainst the United States and the subsequent revelation that most of the attackers were Saudi nationals. ʿAbd Allāh condemned the attacks and, in a move to improve relations, proposed a peace initiative that was adopted at the 2002 Arab summit meeting. The plan called upon Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories (the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights) and promised in return a full Arab normalization of relations with the Jewish country. Tensions between the United States and Saudi Arabia resurfaced, however, after ʿAbd Allāh refused to support a U.S.-led attack on Iraq or to allow the use of Saudi military facilities for such an act. (See Iraq War.)

On the domestic front, ʿAbd Allāh introduced a program of moderate reform to address a number of challenges facing Saudi Arabia. The country’s continued reliance on oil revenue was of particular concern, and among the economic reforms he introduced were limited deregulation, foreign investment, and privatization. He originally sought to placate extreme Islamist voices—many of which sought to end the Saʿūdī dynasty’s rule—yet the spectre of anti-Saudi and anti-Western violence within the country’s borders led him, for the first time, to order the use of force by the security services against some extremists. At the same time, in 2005 ʿAbd Allāh responded to demands for greater political inclusiveness by holding the country’s first municipal elections, based on adult male suffrage. Uncertainty surrounding succession in the kingdom was a further source of domestic concern, and late the following year ʿAbd Allāh issued a new law refining the country’s succession policies. Among the changes was the establishment of an Allegiance Commission, a council of Saudi princes meant to participate in the selection of a crown prince—previously the task of the king alone—and to oversee a smooth transition of power.

In February 2009 ʿAbd Allāh enacted a series of broad governmental changes, which affected areas such as the judiciary, armed forces, and various ministries. Notable among his decisions were the replacement of senior individuals within the judiciary and the religious police with more moderate candidates and the appointment of the country’s first female deputy minister, who was charged with overseeing girls’ education. Upon ʿAbd Allāh’s death in 2015, his half-brother Salman was appointed king.

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Abdullah, also spelled ʿAbd Allāh, in full Abdullah ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (b. c. 1923— d. January 23, 2015, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), was king of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015. As crown prince (1982–2005), he served as the country’s de facto ruler following the 1995 stroke of his half brother King Fahd (r. 1982–2005). Abdullah was one of King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Sa'ud's 37 sons. For his support of Crown Prince Faysal (1964–75) during Fayṣal’s power struggle with King Sa'ud (1953–64), Abdullah was rewarded in 1962 with command of the Saudi National Guard. In 1975 King Khalid (1975–82), Fayṣal’s successor, appointed him deputy prime minister and, in 1982, King Fahd appointed him crown prince and first deputy prime minister. In 1995, Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke, and Abdullah briefly served as regent the following year. Although Fahd subsequently returned to power, Abdullah ran the daily affairs of the country and became king after Fahd died in 2005.

Abdullah was committed to preserving Arab interests, but he also sought to maintain strong ties with the West, especially with the United States. In 2001, relations between the two countries grew strained over Saudi claims that the United States government was not evenhanded in its approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The situation worsened later in the year, following the September 11 attacks against the United States and the subsequent revelation that most of the attackers were Saudi nationals. Abdullah condemned the attacks and, in a move to improve relations, proposed a peace initiative that was adopted at the 2002 Arab summit meeting. The plan called upon Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories (the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights) and promised in return a full Arab normalization of relations with the Jewish country. Tensions between the United States and Saudi Arabia resurfaced, however, after Abdullah refused to support a United States-led attack on Iraq or to allow the use of Saudi military facilities for such an act.

On the domestic front, Abdullah introduced a program of moderate reform to address a number of challenges facing Saudi Arabia. The country’s continued reliance on oil revenue was of particular concern, and among the economic reforms he introduced were limited deregulation, foreign investment, and privatization. He originally sought to placate extreme Islamist voices—many of which sought to end the Saʿūdī dynasty’s rule—yet the spectre of anti-Saudi and anti-Western violence within the country’s borders led him, for the first time, to order the use of force by the security services against some extremists. At the same time, in 2005, Abdullah responded to demands for greater political inclusiveness by holding the country’s first municipal elections, based on adult male suffrage. Uncertainty surrounding succession in the kingdom was a further source of domestic concern, and late the following year Abdullah issued a new law refining the country’s succession policies. Among the changes was the establishment of an Allegiance Commission, a council of Saudi princes meant to participate in the selection of a crown prince—previously the task of the king alone—and to oversee a smooth transition of power.

In February 2009, Abdullah enacted a series of broad governmental changes, which affected areas such as the judiciary, armed forces, and various ministries. Notable among his decisions were the replacement of senior individuals within the judiciary and the religious police with more moderate candidates and the appointment of the country’s first female deputy minister, who was charged with overseeing girls’ education. Upon Abdullah's death in 2015, his half-brother Salman was appointed king.

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Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود‎, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd, Najdi Arabic pronunciation: [ʢæbˈdɑɫ.ɫɐ ben ˈʢæbdæl ʢæˈziːz ʔæːl sæˈʢuːd]; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was the King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from 2005 to 2015. He ascended to the throne on 1 August 2005 upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd.

Abdullah, like Fahd, was one of the many sons of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. Abdullah held important political posts throughout most of his adult life. In 1961 he became mayor of Mecca, his first public office.^[1] The following year, he was appointed commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, a post he was still holding when he became king. He also served as deputy defense minister and was named crown prince when Fahd took the throne in 1982. After King Fahd suffered a serious stroke in 1995, Abdullah became the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia until ascending the throne a decade later.

During his reign he maintained close relations with United States and Britain and bought billions of dollars worth of defense equipment from both states.^[2] He also gave women the right to vote for municipal councils and to compete in the Olympics.^[3] Furthermore, Abdullah maintained the status quo during the waves of protest in the kingdom during the Arab Spring.^[4] In November 2013, a BBC report claimed that Saudi Arabia could obtain nuclear weapons at will from Pakistan due to a longstanding relationship.^[5]

The King outlived two of his crown princes. Conservative Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud was named heir to the throne on the death of Sultan bin Abdulaziz in October 2011, but Nayef himself died in June 2012. Abdullah then named the 76-year-old defense minister, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as crown prince. According to various reports, Abdullah married about 30 times, and had more than 35 children.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] The king had a personal fortune estimated at US$18 billion, making him the third wealthiest head of state in the world.^[10] He died on 23 January 2015, aged 90, three weeks after being hospitalized for pneumonia.^[11]

Early life[edit]

King Abdullah as Commander ofSaudi National Guard

Abdullah was born on 1 August 1924 in Riyadh.^[12]^[13]^[14] He was the tenth son of King Abdulaziz.^[15] His mother, Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim, was a member of the Al Rashid dynasty, longtime rivals of the Al Saud dynasty.^[16]^[17] She was descended from the powerful Shammar tribe and was the daughter of former Shammar tribe chief Asi Shuraim.^[18] She died when Abdullah was six.^[19] He had younger full-sisters.^[19]

Madawi Al-Rasheed argues that his maternal roots and his experience of an early speech impediment led to delay in his rise to higher status among the other sons of King Abdulaziz.^[20]

Commander of National Guard[edit]

In 1963, Abdullah was made commander of Saudi National Guard (SANG). This post allowed him to secure his position in the House of Saud. SANG, which had been based on the Ikhwan, became a modern army force under his command. Beginning by 1985, SANG also sponsors the Janadiriyah festival that institutionalized the traditional folk dances, camel races, and tribal heritage.^[20]

Second Deputy Prime Minister[edit]

Abdullah with US Vice PresidentDan Quayle

King Khalid appointed Prince Abdullah as second deputy prime minister in March 1975, a reflection of being the second in line of succession to the Saudi throne.^[21]^[22] In other words, after this appointment, Prince Abdullah became the number three-man in Saudi administration.^[23] However, his appointment caused friction in the House of Saud.^[24] Then-crown prince Prince Fahd together with his full-brothers known as Sudairi Seven supported the appointment of their own full brother, Prince Sultan.^[24]Prince Abdullah was pressured to concede control of SANG in return for his appointment as Second Deputy Prime Minister. In August 1977, this caused a debate between hundreds of princes in Riyadh.^[24] Abdullah did not concede authority of SANG because he feared that would weaken his authority.^[24]

Crown Prince and Regent[edit]

On 13 June 1982 when King Khalid died, Fahd bin Abdulaziz became King, Prince Abdullah became Crown Prince the same day. He also maintained his position as head of the National Guard. During his years as crown prince, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was described as a supporter of accommodation.^[25] He managed to group^{[clarification needed]} a large number of fringe and marginalized princes discontented with the prospect of the succession being passed among the Sudairi brothers one after the other. His control of the National Guard also was a key factor in his success in becoming crown prince.^[26] When King Fahd was incapacitated by a major stroke in 1995,^[27] Crown Prince Abdullah acted as de facto regent of Saudi Arabia.

In May 2001, Crown Prince Abdullah did not accept an invitation to visit Washington due to U.S. support for Israel in the Second Intifada. He also appeared more eager than King Fahd to cut government spending and open Saudi Arabia up economically. He pushed for Saudi membership in the World Trade Organization, surprising some.^[28]

In August 2001, he ordered then Saudi Ambassador to the US, Bandar bin Sultan, to return to Washington. This reportedly occurred after Crown Prince Abdullah witnessed a brutality between an Israeli soldier and aPalestinian woman.^[29] He later also condemned Israel for attacking families of accused suspects.^[29]

In 2002, he developed an Arab Peace Initiative, commonly referred to as the "Abdullah plan", to achieve mutually agreed-on resolution of the Arab–Israeli conflict.^[30] The initiative was adopted at the Arab League's Beirut summit in March 2002.^[30]

On the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Crown Prince Abdullah wrote a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, which ended with the following words:

"God Almighty, in His wisdom, tests the faithful by allowing such calamities to happen. But He, in His mercy, also provides us with the will and determination, generated by faith, to enable us to transform such tragedies into great achievements, and crises that seem debilitating are transformed into opportunities for the advancement of humanity. I only hope that, with your cooperation and leadership, a new world will emerge out of the rubble of the World Trade Center: a world that is blessed by the virtues of freedom, peace, prosperity and harmony."^[31]

By late 2003, after the Saudi Arabian branch of al-Qaeda carried out a series of bombings that threatened to destabilize the country, Crown Prince Abdullah together with other decision-making elites began to deal with political concerns. One of such moves was his project to promote more tolerance for religious diversity and rein in the forces of politico-religious extremism in the kingdom, leading to the establishment ofNational Dialogue. In the summer of 2003, Abdullah threw his considerable weight behind the creation of a national dialogue that brought leading religious figures together, including a highly publicized meeting attended by the kingdom's preeminent Shi'i scholar Hasan al-Saffar, as well as a group of Sunni clerics who had previously expressed their loathing for the Shi'i minority.^[32] (See also King Abdulaziz Center For National Dialogue)

King of Saudi Arabia[edit]

Royal Standard of the King

Abdullah succeeded to the throne upon the death of his half-brother King Fahd. He was formally enthroned on 2 August 2005.

Domestic affairs[edit]

King Abdullah's administration has realized various reforms in different fields.

In 2005, King Abdullah implemented a government scholarship program to send young Saudi men and women to study abroad in different universities around the world for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The program offered funds for tuition and living expenses up to four years. It is estimated that more than 70,000 students studied abroad in more than 25 countries. United States, England, and Australia are the top three destinations mostly aimed for by the young Saudi students. There are more than 22,000 Saudi students studying in the United States, exceeding pre-9/11 levels. Public health engagement included breast cancer awareness and CDC cooperation to set up an advanced epidemic screening network that protected this year's 3 million Hajj pilgrims.^[33]^[34]

King Abdullah has implemented many reform measures. He has re-shuffled the Ministry of Education's leadership in February 2009 by bringing in his pro-reform son-in-law, Faisal bin Abdullah, as the new minister. He also appointed Nora Al Fayez, a U.S.-educated former teacher, as deputy education minister in charge of a new department for female students.^[35]

He realized a top-to-bottom restructuring of the country's courts to introduce, among other things, review of judicial decisions and more professional training for Shari'a judges. He developed a new investment promotion agency to overhaul the once-convoluted process of starting a business in Saudi Arabia. He created a regulatory body for capital markets. He has promoted the construction of the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (the country's new flagship and controversially co-ed institution for advanced scientific research). He invested in educating the workforce for future jobs. The Saudi government is also encouraging the development of non-hydrocarbon sectors in which the Kingdom has a comparative advantage, including mining, solar energy, and religious tourism. The Kingdom's 2010 budget reflected these priorities—about 25 percent was devoted to education alone—and amounts to a significant economic stimulus package.^[33]^[36]

King Abdullah with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 11 February 2007.

The response of his administration to homegrown terrorism was a series of crackdowns including raids by security forces, arrests, torture and public beheadings.^[37] He vowed to fight terrorist ideologies within the country. He made the protection of Saudi Arabia's critical infrastructure a top security priority.^[38]

His strategy against terrorism has been two-pronged: he attacked the roots of the extremism that fed Al-Qaida through education and judicial reforms to weaken the influence of the most reactionary elements of Saudi Arabia's religious establishment. He is also promoting economic diversification.

He decreed in August 2010 that only officially approved religious scholars associated with the Senior Council of Ulema would be allowed to issue fatwas. Similar decrees since 2005 were previously seldom enforced. Individual fatwas relating to personal matters were exempt from the royal decree. The decree also instructed the Grand Mufti to identify eligible scholars.^[39]

In light of the Arab Spring, Abdullah laid down a $37-billion (€32,8 billion) programme of new spending including new jobless benefits, education and housing subsidies, debt write-offs, and a new sports channel. There was also a pledge to spend a total of $400 billion by the end of 2014 to improve education, health care and the kingdom's infrastructure.^[40] However, Saudi police arrested 100 Shiite protesters who complained of government discrimination.^[41] Later during the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests, in September 2011, the King announced women's right to vote in the 2015 municipal council elections, a first significant reform step in the country since the protests. He also stated that women would become eligible to take part in the unelected shura.^[42]^[43]

In January 2012, King Abdullah dismissed the head of Saudi Arabia's powerful religious police, replacing him with a more moderate cleric, state news agency SPA reported, without giving reasons. Abdullatif Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh was named, in place of Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Humain, to head the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. King Abdullah had appointed Humain in 2009 to head the "mutaween," which ensures the strict application of the country's ultra-conservative version of Islam, as a step towards reforming it. Humain hired consultants to restructure the organisation, met local human rights groups and consulted professional image-builders in a broad public relations campaign. Under his leadership the commission also investigated and punished some "out-of-control" officers for misbehaviour.^[44]

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

In July 2012, Saudi Arabia announced that it would allow its women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time and that the country's Olympic Committee would "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify". The decision ended speculation that the entire Saudi team might have been disqualified on grounds of gender discrimination. The public participation of women in sport is still fiercely opposed by many Saudi religious conservatives. There is almost no public tradition of women participating in sport in the country. Saudi officials said that, if successful in qualifying, female competitors would be dressed "to preserve their dignity".^[45] On 11 January 2013, King Abdullah appointed thirty women to the Consultative Assembly or Shura Council and modified the related law to mandate that no less than 20 percent of 150 members would be women.^[46]

In August 2013, the Saudi cabinet approved a law making domestic violence a criminal offence for the first time. The law calls for a punishment of up to a year in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 riyals (€11.500/US$13,000).^[47] The maximum punishments can be doubled for repeat offenders. The law criminalizes psychological and sexual abuse, as well as physical abuse. It also includes a provision obliging employees to report instances of abuse in the workplace to their employer.^[48] The move followed a Twittercampaign. The new laws were welcomed by Saudi women's rights activists, although some expressed concerns that the law could not be implemented successfully without new training for the judiciary, and that the tradition of male guardianship would remain an obstacle to prosecutions.^[47]

Interfaith dialogue[edit]

In November 2007, King Abdullah visited Pope Benedict XVI in the Apostolic Palace. He is the first Saudi monarch to visit the Pope.^[49]^[50] In March 2008, he called for a “brotherly and sincere dialogue between believers from all religions”.^[51]

Abdullah in a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, 5 January 2014.

In June 2008, he held a conference in Mecca to urge Muslim leaders to speak with one voice with Jewish and Christian leaders.^[52] He discussed with and took approval from Saudi and non-Saudi Islamic scholars to hold the interfaith dialogue. In the same month, Saudi Arabia and Spain agreed to hold the interfaith dialogue in Spain.^[53] The historic conference finally took place in Madrid in July 2008 where religious leaders of different faiths participated,^[54] and later led to the 2010 proclamation of World Interfaith Harmony Week.

He had never previously made overtures for dialogue with eastern religious leaders, such as Hindus and Buddhists. The Mecca conference discussed a paper on dialogue with monotheists — highlighting the monotheistic religions of southeast Asia, including Sikhism — in the third axis of the fourth meeting, titled "With Whom We Talk," presented by Sheikh Badrul Hasan Al Qasimi. The session was chaired by Ezz Eddin Ibrahim, cultural adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates. The session also discussed a paper presented on coordination among Islamic institutions on Dialogue by Abdullah bin Omar Nassif, Secretary General of the World Islamic Council for Preaching and Relief and a paper on dialogue with divine messages, presented by Professor Mohammad Sammak – Secretary General of the Islamic Spiritual Summit in Lebanon.

In November 2008, he and his government arranged discussion at the United Nations General Assembly to “promote dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, as well as activities related to a culture of peace” and calling for “concrete action at the global, regional and subregional levels.”^[55] It brought together Muslim and non-Muslim nations to eradicate preconceptions as to Islam and terrorism, with world leaders — including former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Israeli President Shimon Peres, U.S. President George W. Bush and King Abdullah II of Jordan — attending.

In 2011, an agreement for the establishment of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna was signed between the governments of Austria, Spain, and Saudi Arabia.^[56] The official opening of the centre was in November 2012, with foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal as its first general secretary and Austria's former federal justice minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner as the first deputy general secretary.^[57]^[58]

Arab common market[edit]

King Abdullah called for the establishment of an Arab common market in January 2011. Saudi foreign minister, Saud bin Faisal, stated the Arab Customs Union would be ready by 2015 and by 2017 the common market would also be in place. There have been intensive efforts to link Arab countries with a railway system and an electricity power grid. Work on the power grid project has started in some Arab countries.^[59]

United States[edit]

Abdullah visits the United States in April 2005

King Abdullah has long been pro-American and a long time close ally of the United States. In October 1976, as Prince Abdullah was being trained for greater responsibility in Riyadh, he was sent to the United States to meet with President Gerald Ford. He again traveled to the United States as Crown Prince in October 1987, meeting Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush. In September 1998, Crown Prince Abdullah made a state visit to the United States to meet in Washington, D.C. with President Bill Clinton. In September 2000, he attended millennium celebrations at the United Nations in New York City. In April 2002, Crown Prince Abdullah made a state visit to the United States with PresidentGeorge W. Bush and he returned again in April 2005 with Bush. In April 2009, at a summit for world leaders U.S. President Barack Obama met him. In June 2009, King Abdullah hosted President Obama in Saudi Arabia. In turn, Obama hosted King Abdullah at the White House in the same month.

He showed great support for Obama's presidency. "Thank God for bringing Obama to the presidency", he said, adding that Obama's election created "great hope" in the Muslim world.^[60] He stated, "We (the U.S. and Saudi Arabia) spilled blood together" in Kuwait and Iraq and Saudi Arabia valued this tremendously and friendship can be a difficult issue that requires work but the United States and Saudi Arabia have done it for 70 years over three generations. "Our disagreements don't cut to the bone", he stated.^[61] He was the leading gift-giver to the U.S. president and his office in his first two years in office, his gifts totaling more than $300,000. A ruby and diamond jewelry set, given by the king and accepted by Michelle Obama on behalf of the United States, was worth $132,000.^[62] However, according to federal law, gifts of such nature and value are accepted "on behalf of the United States" and are considered property of the U.S. government.

Iraq[edit]

The Bush administration ignored advice from him and Saudi foreign minister Saud Al Faisal against invading Iraq.^[38] However, other sources said that many Arab governments were only nominally opposed to the Iraq invasion because of popular hostility.^[63] Before becoming king, Prince Abdullah was thought to be completely against the U.S. invasion of Iraq; this, however, was not the case. Riyadh provided essential support to the United States during the war and proved that "necessity does lead to some accommodations from time to time".^[64] The King expressed a complete lack of trust in Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and held out little hope for improved Saudi-Iraqi relations as long as al-Maliki remains in office.^[61] King Abdullah told an Iraqi official about Al Maliki, “You and Iraq are in my heart, but that man is not.”^[65]

In September 2014 following the spread of ISIL, he issued a statement, "From the cradle of revelation and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), I call on leaders and scholars of the Islamic nation to carry out their duty towards God Almighty, and to stand in the face of those trying to hijack Islam and present it to the world as a religion of extremism, hatred, and terrorism, and to speak the word of truth, and not fear anybody. Our nation today is passing through a critical, historic stage, and history will be witness against those who have been the tool exploited by the enemies to disperse and tear the nation and tarnish the pure image of Islam".^[66]

Iran[edit]

Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah.

In 2006, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei had sent his adviser Ali Akbar Velayati with a letter asking for King Abdullah's agreement to establish a formal back channel for communication between the two leaders. Abdullah said he had agreed, and the channel was established with Velayati and Saud Al Faisal as the points of contact. In the years since, the King noted, the channel had never been used.^[67]

In April 2008, according to a U.S. cable released by Wikileaks, King Abdullah had told the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and General David Petraeus to "cut off the head of the snake". Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, "recalled the King's frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran" and to put an end to its nuclear program.^[68] King Abdullah asserted that Iran is trying to set up Hezbollah-like organizations in African countries, observing that the Iranians don't think they are doing anything wrong and don't recognize their mistakes. He said the Iranians "launch missiles with the hope of putting fear in people and the world". The King described his conversation with Iranian foreign minister Mottaki as "a heated exchange, frankly discussing Iran's interference in Arab affairs". When challenged by the King on Iranian meddling in Hamas affairs, Mottaki apparently protested that "these are Muslims". "No, Arabs", countered the King. "You as Persians have no business meddling in Arab matters". King Abdullah said he would favor Rafsanjani in an Iranian election.^[60]^[67]

He told General Jones that Iranian internal turmoil presented an opportunity to weaken the regime—which he encouraged—but he also urged that this be done covertly and stressed that public statements in support of the reformers were counterproductive. The King assessed that sanctions could help weaken the government, but only if they are strong and sustained.^[33]

Bahrain[edit]

In March 2014 Saudi forces led troops into Bahrain to quell peaceful demonstrations. At the same time, the Saudis formed the Gulf Cooperation Council to coordinate efforts between different Gulf countries.^[69]

Saudi Arabia, by the endorsement of the Gulf Cooperation Council, sent 1,200 troops to Bahrain to protect industrial facilities, resulting in strained relations with the United States. The military personnel were part of the Peninsula Shield Force which is stationed in Saudi Arabia but not affiliated with one country alone.^[70]^[71]

Guantánamo Bay[edit]

In December 2010, leaked diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks revealed that King Abdullah wanted all detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to be tracked through an implanted microchip, in a similar way to race horses. The King made the private suggestion during a meeting in Riyadh in March 2009 with John O. Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser. Brennan replied that "horses don't have good lawyers" and that such a proposal would "face legal hurdles" in the United States. In the same cables, it was revealed that Abdullah also privately urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons program.^[61]

China[edit]

Since King Abdullah's visit to Beijing in January 2006, the Saudi-Chinese relationship has focused predominantly on energy and trade. The king's visit was the first by a Saudi head of state to China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1990.^[72] Bilateral trade with China has more than tripled, and China would soon be Saudi Arabia's largest importer. Saudi Arabia also committed significant investments in China, including the $8 billion Fujian refinery. Based on a WikiLeaks cable, the King told the Chinese that it was willing to effectively trade a guaranteed oil supply in return for Chinese pressure on Iran not to develop nuclear weapons.^[33]

In late March 2011, King Abdullah sent Bandar, secretary general of the National Security Council, to China to gain its support regarding Saudi Arabia's attitude towards the Arab Spring. In turn, lucrative arm contracts were secretly offered to China by the Kingdom. Furthermore, King Abdullah believed that China as well as India were the future markets for Saudi energy.^[73]

Relations with other nations[edit]

Abdullah with Lech Kaczyński,President of Poland.

In November 2009, King Abdullah was received by Nicolas Sarkozy, who committed various diplomatic faux pas. The diplomatic relationship Jacques Chirac had with Saudi Arabia was not evident with Sarkozy.^[74] In January 2011, the Kingdom granted asylum to the ousted Tunisian leader, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, under conditions of no further political involvement.^[59] According to leaked cables, King Abdullah was more receptive than Crown Prince Sultan to former Yemeni President Saleh.^[75]

King Abdullah supported renewed diplomatic relations with the Syrian government and Bashar al-Assad. They met in Damascus on 7 October 2009.^[76] In addition, Assad attended the opening of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in October 2009. Relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia deteriorated as a result of the Syrian Civil War. In August 2011, King Abdullah recalled the Saudi Ambassador from Damascus due to the political unrest in Syria and closed its embassy in Syria.^[77]

In December 2011, King Abdullah called on leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council to strengthen their alliance into a united "single entity" as they confront threats to national security. "I ask you today to move from a stage of cooperation to a stage of union in a single entity", King Abdullah said at the opening session of a GCC meeting in Riyadh in comments aired on Saudi state television. “No doubt, you all know we are targeted in our security and stability.”^[78]

Criticism as king[edit]

On 16 February 2003, Parade magazine's David Wallechinsky rated King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah as the second worst dictators in the world.^[79] Most of this criticism stems from the fact that most of Saudi citizens live under a strict Wahhabist interpretation of Sharia law, which mandates the amputation of hands as a punishment for theft and floggings for crimes like drunkenness.^[80] Execution by public beheading is common for murder, rape, drug trafficking and witchcraft, and Abdullah's policies towards the rights of women have also been criticized. In a slight rebuff to accusations of human rights violations, Saudi inmates of Najran Province sent the King well-wishes from jail and wished him a speedy recovery.^[81]

King Abdullah has also been criticized for his policies on religious freedom and the Saudi government allegedly has arrested Shiite pilgrims on the Hajj.^[80] On 24 January 2007, Human Rights Watch sent an open letter to King Abdullah asking him to cease religious persecution of the Ahmadi faith in Saudi Arabia. Two letters were sent in November 2006 and February 2007 asking him to remove the travel ban on critics of the Saudi government.^[82] Human Rights Watch has not yet indicated whether they have received any response to these letters.

On 30 October 2007, during a state visit to the United Kingdom, King Abdullah was accused by protestors of being a "murderer" and a "torturer". Concerns were raised in the UK about the treatment of women and homosexuals by the Saudi kingdom and over alleged bribes involving arms deals between Saudi Arabia and the UK.^[83]

While open criticism of the King within the country is forbidden, criticism of his extremely powerful Chief of Staff/private secretary and eminence gris (formally President of the Royal Court) Khaled al-Tuwaijri, is not, and he soon became one of the most hated men in the country.^{[citation needed]}

Succession to the throne[edit]

Further information: Succession to the Saudi Arabian throne

King Abdullah's heir apparent was his half-brother Crown Prince Sultan until the latter's death on 22 October 2011. The title of Crown Prince then passed to Prince Sultan's full-brother, Nayef, until his death inGeneva, Switzerland, on 16 June 2012, while undergoing medical tests for an undisclosed ailment. His third heir apparent was his half-brother Salman, who was named as Crown Prince on 18 June 2012,^[84] and would succeed him in 2015.

In 2006, Abdullah set up the Allegiance Council, a body that is composed of the sons and grandsons of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz, to vote by a secret ballot to choose future kings and crown princes. The council's mandate was not to have started until after the reigns of both King Abdullah and late Prince Sultan were over. It was not clear what was to happen when Prince Sultan died before the end of Abdullah's reign, leaving a question as to whether the council would vote for a new crown prince, or whether Prince Nayef would automatically fill that position. Despite such concerns, Prince Nayef was appointed Crown Prince on 27 October 2011 after consultation with the Allegiance Council by Abdullah.^[85]

In November 2010, Prince Nayef chaired a cabinet meeting because of the deterioration of the King's health.^[86] During the same month, King Abdullah transferred his duties as Commander of the Saudi National Guard to his son Prince Mutaib. King Abdullah is credited with building up the once largely ceremonial unit into a modern 260,000-strong force that is a counterweight to the army. The Guard, which was Abdullah's original power base, protects the royal family. This was suggested as an apparent sign that the elderly monarch was beginning to lessen some of his duties.^[87]

Various positions[edit]

King Abdullah was Commander of the Saudi National Guard from 1963 to 2010. He was Chairman of the Saudi Supreme Economic Council until 2009.^[88] He also continued to be the President of the High Council for Petroleum and Minerals, President of the King Abdulaziz Center For National Dialogue, Chairman of the Council of Civil Service, and head of the Military Service Council until his death in 2015.

Personal life[edit]

King Abdullah was afalconer in his youth

King Abdullah followed his father's (King Abdulaziz's) path in terms of marriage in that he married the daughters of the al Shalan of Anizah, al Fayz of Bani Sakhr, and al Jarbah of the Iraqi branch of the Shammar tribe.^[20] King Abdullah had about 30 wives, and fathered about 35 children.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[89] One of his wives is the sister of Rifaat al-Assad's wife.^[90] He also married Jawahir bint Ali Hussein from Al Jiluwi clan, with whom he had a daughter, Princess Anoud and a son, Prince Saud.^[91]^[92] Aida Fustuq was another wife of Abdullah, they had 2 children, Adila and Abdulaziz.^[93]^[94] They divorced later.^[95] Munira bint Abdullah Al Al Shaykh was the wife of King Abdullah and gave birth to his eldest living son, Prince Khaled.^[96]Tathi bint Mishan al Faisal Al Jarba gave birth to Prince Mishaal.^[97]

Sons[edit]

King Abdullah's eldest son, Prince Khaled, was deputy commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard West until 1992. His second son, Prince Mutaib, is the former commander and current minister of the National Guard. His mother is Munira Al Otaishan. Prince Mishaal was the governor of the Makkah Province (2013–2015).^[98] Prince Abdulaziz was the king's former Syrian adviser^[90] and has been deputy foreign affairs minister since 2011. Prince Faisal is the head of the Saudi Arabian Red Crescent Society. King Abdullah's seventh son,Prince Turki, who was a pilot in the the Royal Saudi Air Force, was the governor of the Riyadh Province (2014–2015).^[99] The youngest son, Prince Badr, was born in 2003, when Abdullah was about 79 years old.^[100]

Daughters[edit]

King Abdullah's daughter Princess Adila is married to Faisal bin Abdullah.^[101] She is one of the few Saudi princesses with a semi-public role, and a known advocate of the woman's right to drive.^[102] She is also known as "her father's public face".^[19] One of Abdullah's younger daughters, Princess Sahab, was born in 1993.^[103] Sahab bint Abdullah married Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, on 6 June 2011.^[104] Princess Sahab is the daughter of the king from his wife of the Al-Jarbah tribe.

From his marriage to Princess Alanoud Al Fayez (arranged when she was 15 without her having ever met him), whom he has now divorced, he had four daughters - Princesses Sahar, Maha, Hala and Jawahir.^[105]The four princesses have been under house arrest for the last 13 years, and are not allowed to leave the country.^[106]^[107] After media releases in March 2014, Sahar and Jawaher received no food or clean water for 25 days, lost 10 kilos each and their mother carried out weekly protests in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in London,^[108] and about which Sahar and Jawaher released a video while under house arrest pleading for help from the international community. King Abdullah also had a daughter called Princess Nora who died in 1990 in a car accident.

Ancestry[edit]

[show]Ancestors of Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Declining health and death[edit]

The King had curtailed his activities from June 2010 with no clear explanation. Diplomats said there had been uncertainty about the extent of his health problems since Abdullah canceled a visit to France.^[when?] In a television appearance in which he was seen to use a cane, King Abdullah said he was in good health but had something "bothering" him. In a visit by US diplomats to Saudi Arabia in April 2014 the Saudi King was seen connected to breathing tubes during talks, indicating increasing health problems.

From 2010 to 2012 King Abdullah had four back surgeries.^[110] The first two of the surgeries were in New York, one in 2010 for a slipped disk and a blood clot pressing on nerves in his back and a second to stabilize vertebrae in 2011.^[110] The third one was in Riyadh in 2011. And the last one was also in Riyadh on 17 November 2012.^[110]

In November 2010, his back problems came to light in the media. He had an "accumulation of blood" around the spinal cord. He suffered from a herniated disc and was told to rest by doctors. To maintain the Kingdom's stability, Crown Prince Sultan returned from Morocco during the King's absence.^[111] The King was admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital after a blood clot complicated a slipped disc and underwent successful back surgery. The lead surgeon was Muhammad Zaka, who probably removed the herniated disk and performed a lumbar fusion.^[112]^[113]^[114] He subsequently had another successful surgery in which surgeons "stabilized a number of vertebras". He left the hospital on 22 December 2010 and convalesced at The Plaza in New York City.^[115] On 22 January 2011, he left the United States and went to Morocco.^[116]He returned to the Kingdom on 23 February 2011.^[117]

King Abdullah left Saudi Arabia on "special leave" on 27 August 2012.^[118] Al-Quds reported that he had an operation at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York on or before 4 September 2012, following a heart attack.^[119]However, there was no official report on this alleged operation. Instead, it was officially announced that the King went on a private trip to Morocco, where he is known to go frequently. The King returned to Saudi Arabia from Morocco on 24 September.^[120] Nearly two months later, in November 2012, King Abdullah underwent another back surgery in Riyadh^[121] and left hospital on 13 December 2012.^[122] A report in April 2014 stated the King had around six months left to live, citing his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.^[123] On 2 January 2015, Abdullah was hospitalized in Riyadh for pneumonia^[124] and died on 23 January at the age of 90.^[125]^[126] Per Islamic tradition, his funeral was held the same day, a public ceremony at the Grand Mosque of Riyadh before burial in an unmarked grave at the Al Oud cemetery.^[127] Three days of national mourning were declared, in which flags would fly at half mast.^[127] Flags were also flown half-mast at Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey in London.^[128]

Philanthropy[edit]

While still Crown Prince, Abdullah paid for the separation surgery of a pair of Polish conjoined twins, which took place at the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh on 3 January 2005.^[129] He was given "honorary citizenship" by the Polish town of Janikowo, where the twins were born. On 18 March 2005, he was awarded the Order of the Smile, which he received during his visit to Poland in 2007.

He established two libraries: the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh; and another in Casablanca, Morocco.

He donated over $300,000 to furnish a New Orleans high school rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.

He donated $500 million to the United Nations World Food Programme in 2008.

He donated $50 million in cash and $10 million worth of relief materials for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China.^[130]

He donated $10 billion to the endowment fund of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in May 2008.^[131]

Influence[edit]

King Abdullah was, in 2012, named as the most influential Muslim among 500 Muslims for the previous 4 years.^[132]^[133] In December 2012, Forbes named him as the seventh most powerful figure in its list of the "World's Most Powerful People" for 2012, being the sole Arab in the top ten.^[134]

Honours and awards[edit]

King Abdullah received a number of international high orders. Most notably, he was an honoured knight of the strictly Roman Catholic Order of the Golden Fleece (the Spanish branch), which caused some controversy.^[135]^{[better source needed]}

In April 2012, he was awarded by the United Nations a gold medal for his contributions to intercultural understanding and peace initiatives.^[136]

Wealth[edit]

In 2011, Forbes estimated his and his immediate family's documentable wealth at US$21 billion, ranking him as one of the richest royals in the world.^[137]

Abdullah was an expert equestrian in his youth. His stables were considered the largest in the Kingdom, with over 1,000 horses spread throughout five divisions led by his son Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah.^[138] The King owned Janadria Farm, the large complex located in the suburbs of Riyadh.^[138]

For holidays the King maintained a large palace complex with several residential compounds in Casablanca, Morocco.^[139] It is equipped with two heliports and is surrounded by large mansions on 133 acres of vegetation.

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