King of Saudi Arabia died

In Saudi Arabia, at the 91st year of his life, King Abdullah died, reports Reuters with reference to the state television of the Arabian Kingdom. The King of Saudi Arabia was the Crown Prince 79-year-old Salman ibn Abdul Aziz al-Saud. The new king declared the heir to the throne of the 71-year-old Prince Mukrin, Deputy Head of the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia.

King Abdullah was the oldest active monarch of modernity. He was hospitalized in one of the clinics of Riyadh at the end of last year. Doctors found pneumonia from him. Also a few years ago, the Saudi king underwent surgery to remove the intervertebral hernia.

Saudi Arabia is one of the key players in the global oil market. Experts do not expect a significant change in the oil policy of the Arabian state with the change of king: the new ruler will most likely adhere to the tactics of his predecessor - to maintain the level of production to maintain a market share even at the cost of reducing oil prices, Bloomberg notes.

Salman ibn Abdul Aziz al-Saud became the acting hereditary prince of Saudi Arabia in June 2012, after the death of his two predecessors. Salman is the 25th son of the first Saudi monarch Abdel Aziz, his mother was Princess Hass As-Sudairi. Salman was a trusted adviser to King Fahd, whose heir became King Abdullah.

King Abdallah for almost 20 years of Saudi Arabia rules - after the stroke of King Fahd in 1996, he acted as a monarch. In the kingdom, he earned a reputation as a cautious reformer who combined Islamic traditions with the needs of the modern economy. Abdullah launched a program for the training of young Saudis at Western universities, personally financed the construction of the metro in Riyadh, dealt with the problem of unemployment among young people, liberalizing the economy to stimulate the growth of the private sector. He became the first monarch of the state to visit the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

One of his first decrees, the sixth king of Saudi Arabia banned numerous members of the royal family (according to open sources, in Saudi Arabia about seven thousand princes and princesses) to use the state treasury. The major political reform of the sixth Saudi king was the creation of the Council of the ruling family for an ordered throne of the throne.