24 April 2020, 14:24 UTC. But he moved carefully in the face of the ultraconservative Wahhabi clerics who hold near total sway over society and, in return, give the Al Saud family's rule religious legitimacy. WASHINGTON – King Abdullah ibn Abdilazīz of Saudi Arabia, known in the kingdom as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has died at an estimated age of 91. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. First published on January 22, 2015 / 6:37 PM. The changes seemed small from the outside but had a powerful resonance. Riot police crushed street demonstrations by Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority. Tracking Biden's Cabinet picks as administration takes shape, DACA faces biggest legal test ahead of Biden presidency, Biden taps Deb Haaland to be 1st Native American interior secretary, Biden plans to nominate Michael Regan as EPA chief, Biden announces Pete Buttigieg as pick to lead Transportation Department. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud speaks at his private residence in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in June. ", In a statement, former President George H.W. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the sixth King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from 1 August 2005 until his death. Former King of Saudi Arabia (1924-2015) – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was born in Riyadh (capital of Saudi Arabia) on August 1st, 1924 and died in Riyadh (capital of Saudi Arabia) on January 23rd, 2015 at the age of 90. He promised women would be able to vote and run in 2015 elections for municipal councils, the only elections held in the country. He reportedly underwent surgery in late 2012 for his back. His priority was to counter the influence of rival, mainly Shiite Iran wherever it tried to make advances. Saudi Arabia: Prisoner of conscience Dr Abdullah al-Hamid dies while in detention. When al Qaeda militants in 2003 began a wave of violence in the kingdom aimed at toppling the monarchy, Abdullah cracked down hard. Biden's inauguration will be virtual. • Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz, 6th King of Saudi Arabia, born 1 August 1924; died 23 January 2015 As the King, he played a leading role in promoting dialogue among the world’s leading faiths and also sought to resolve conflicts in the Arab and Islamic world. Responding to news of the death of Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, a prisoner of conscience who passed away while in detention in Saudi Arabia, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director, said: “We are devastated to learn of Dr Abdullah al-Hamid’s passing while he remained in … 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's. And Tehran and Riyadh's colliding ambitions stoked proxy conflicts around the region that inflamed Sunni-Shiite hatreds -- most horrifically in Syria's civil war, where the two countries backed opposing sides. He supported and armed rebels battling to overthrow President Bashar Assad, Iran's top Arab ally, and pressed the Obama administration to do the same. Saudi Arabia announced it would end capital punishment for juvenile crimes, but campaigners fear at least 10 prisoners could be executed ... Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher. Why is he fundraising for it? Syria's war helped give birth to the Islamic State group, which burst out to take over large parts of Syria and Iraq. Abdullah, like Fahd, was one of the many sons of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. Today Abdullah of Saudi Arabia would be 96 years old. In Syria, Abdullah stepped indirectly indirectly into the civil war that emerged after 2011. DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has announced the death of Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Saud, state news agency SPA reported. President Obama, who most recently met with Abdullah last March, released a statement expressing "my personal condolences and the sympathies of the American people" to the late king's family and the people of Saudi Arabia. Updated on: January 23, 2015 / 8:14 AM He paid two visits to Bush -- in 2002 and 2005 -- at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. He encouraged large-scale infrastructural development in Saudi Arabia and worked for … When Fahd died in 2005, Abdullah officially rose to the throne. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, (Arabic: عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ‘Abd ullāh ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Su‘ūd) (1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was the King of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 23 January 2015. Small splashes of variety opened in the kingdom -- color and flash crept into the all-black abayas women must wear in public; state-run TV started playing music, forbidden for decades; book fairs opened their doors to women writers and some banned books. Following Muslim tradition, the king will be buried within 12 hours of his death and will be laid to rest alongside his father and other past Saudi kings. But the king balked at going too far too fast. 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. He also pushed the Obama administration to take a tougher stand against Iran and to more strongly back the mainly Sunni rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. He then began to more openly push his agenda. He was 90. (Abdullah’s mother was Fahda, the eighth of Ibn Saud’s 16 wives.) They extracted more than a gallon of semen. He and fellow Sunni Arab monarchs also staunchly opposed the Middle East's wave of pro-democracy uprisings, seeing them as a threat to stability and their own rule. Fears of the growing militancy prompted Abdullah to commit Saudi airpower to a U.S.-led coalition fighting the extremists. 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. He was the richest head of state in the world, with a personal fortune of about $20 billion. Abdullah for the first time gave women seats on the Shura Council, an unelected body that advises the king and government. I swear to Allah this is true. Bush called Abdullah "a wise and reliable ally, helping our nations build on a strategic relationship and enduring friendship dating back to World War II," and cited Saudi assistance to the U.S. fighting Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War, which Mr. Bush called "a moment of unparalleled cooperation between two great nations.". In some cases, Abdullah pushed back: He fired one prominent government cleric who criticized the mixed-gender university. In a statement carried by the Saudi … King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has died aged 90 after a short illness. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has died at the age of 90, according to official state media reports. Abdullah had more than 30 children from around a dozen wives. RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent their condolences to the people of Kuwait and the Al-Sabah family over the death of Kuwait's emir on Tuesday. 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