Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
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| عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud |
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| House of Saud |
| Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud |
| Offspring |
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King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud (Arabic: عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, born 1924) [1] is the King of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded the throne on August 1, 2005, following the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. As crown prince, he had previously acted as de facto regent and thus ruler of Saudi Arabia since 1995 when King Fahd was incapacitated by a major stroke. He was formally enthroned on August 3, 2005, but he inherited the title of King immediately after the death of his half-brother. [2]One of his sons, Prince Mutaib serves as a deputy commander in the Saudi National Guard.
Abdullah also serves as Prime Minister and Commander of the Saudi National Guard. He is Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council, President of the High Council for Petroleum and Minerals, President of the King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue, Chairman of the Council of Civil Service and Head of the Military Service Council. Abdullah is one of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.
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[edit] Early life
King Abdullah was born in Riyadh to Ibn Saud's eighth wife, Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim of the Abde section of the Shammar tribe. She had earlier been married to the 10th Rashidi amir, Saud, who was killed in 1920. Abdullah received his early education in the Royal Court at the Princes' School from religious authorities and intellectuals. His first official post was as Mayor of Mecca. He was given the position of Commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard in August 1963, the position of Second Deputy Prime Minister in March 1975 and the position of First Deputy Prime Minister in June 1982. Abdullah has had over thirty wives during his lifetime, among them Tardi Al-Jorba, Hessa Al Shaalan, Aida, Anud, Malika, and al-Jauhara. He has at least fifteen sons and twenty daughters.
[edit] Religion
King Abdullah is a devout Muslim and follows the Salafi understanding of Islam which is a strict interpretation of the religion based on the teachings of the first three generations of Muslims, and is said to have meetings with leaders of Saudi Arabia's religious establishment on a weekly basis to garner advice and guidance.
[edit] Governance and foreign policy
King Abdullah is a fervent advocator of normalising Saudi Arabia's relationship with the World. He liberally funds Islamic education around the globe which, apart from spreading Islam, has helped remove misconceptions about the faith. He is also moderate in his personal living, a notable contrast to others in the notoriously extravagant Saud family.
[edit] Peace Process
In 2002, Abdullah floated the so-called Arab Peace Initiative, what many considered at the time to be an opening salvo in a Saudi attempt to make peace with Israel. The plan called for Israel to end its occupation of the Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza Strip and recognize an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. Additionally, Israel was to grant Palestinians the full right of return to Israel proper - that is, over five million Arabs will have been entitled to settle in Israel and become Israeli citizens. In exchange, Abdullah offered unprecedented concessions, including the ending of the Arab-Israeli conflict, a peace treaty with Israel, recognition of the state of Israel (despite the 1947 UN Partition Plan approved by the UN General Assembly), and the establishment of "normal relations" between Arab states and Israel.
The plan was dropped after criticism from both Arab states and Israel.
Recently, Abdullah has visited Egypt, Syria and Jordan in what the Saudi Arabian government calls "an attempt to restart the stalled Middle East peace process and promote Arab unity and cooperation."
[edit] War on Terrorism
Since May 12, 2003, Saudi Arabia has faced several serious terrorist attacks . King Abdullah vowed to crack down on the insurgency and to fight terrorist ideologies within the country.
On the second anniversary of the September 11 attack on the United States, the then-prince wrote a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, which ended with:
"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." [3]
[edit] Philanthropy
Abdullah paid for the surgery of a pair of Polish conjoined twins which took place at the King Abd al-Aziz Medical City in Riyadh on 3rd January 2005. He had heard about the twins from a doctor who found the information about the twins on the Internet. 14-month-old Daria and Olga Kołacz were successfully separated after the surgery which took 15 hours.
Abdullah has established two libraries, one in Riyadh (the King Abdulaziz Library) and another in Casablanca, Morocco.
[edit] Relationship with the United States
In October 1976, as Abdullah was being groomed for greater responsibility in Riyadh, he was sent to the United States to meet with then-President Gerald Ford. He again travelled to the United States in October 1987, meeting then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. In September of 1998, Abdullah made a state visit to the United States to meet in Washington, DC with then-President Bill Clinton. He returned again in September of 2000 to attend millennium celebrations at the United Nations in New York, New York.
Since then Abdullah has visited America many times, and there are reports that the Bush family, including President George W. Bush, consider Abdullah to be a great friend both of America and themselves.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia - Bio of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz
- Gates, Saudi Prince Bid $3.7B for Four Seasons
| Preceded by: Fahd | King of Saudi Arabia and head of the House of Saud August 1, 2005 – present | Incumbent |
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