King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia is hospitalised in a military hospital in Saudi Arabia for experiencing
shortness of breath and back pains. The Saudi Royal Court said medical tests
showed the king had a respiratory infection.
A Royal Court statement
says that his condition is stabilized with the help of breathing tube.
The health of the
monarch is of extreme importance
in the kingdom, where Abdullah holds absolute powers to enact laws and appoint
ministers. His condition is also watched internationally largely due to the
country's role as one of the world's largest oil exporters, as well as
regionally where the kingdom has used its influence to counter the Islamist
Muslim Brotherhood group and Shiite Iran.
Abdullah
officially assumed the throne in 2005, but has largely been seen as the de
facto ruler of Saudi Arabia since the mid-1990s. He reportedly underwent back
surgeries in 2010 in New York City, and in October 2011 and November 2012 in
Saudi Arabia.
The monarch received
President Barack Obama in March and appeared before the press wearing an oxygen
tube. Official photographs of the king have also shown him in a wheelchair.
These confirms the not-so-good condition of the monarch’s health.
In an effort to
assuage concerns
about continuity and stability in the kingdom, 69 year-old Prince Muqrin was
appointed deputy crown prince and second-in-line to the throne last year. He is
the youngest surviving son of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz Al Saud.
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