King Fahd dies, Abdullah becomes new Saudi king

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah (pictured) was swiftly pronounced monarch of Saudi Arabia after the death of King Fahd today. File picture / Reuters

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's King Fahd died on Monday and Crown Prince Abdullah was swiftly pronounced monarch of the world's largest oil exporter and key US ally.

"With deep sorrow and pain, the royal court... mourns the death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd due to illness," said an official statement read out on state television.

A Saudi source said the kingdom's oil policy would not change after King Fahd's death.

Diplomats said they did not expect major changes in Saudi foreign policy under King Abdullah, who as crown prince has been running the day to day affairs of the Gulf Arab country since Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995.

The statement said Defence Minister Prince Sultan had become the kingdom's new crown prince. US crude oil jumped up almost 50 cents a barrel after reports the king had died.

The Saudi stock market, the largest Arab bourse, suspended trading, a broker said.

Fahd, who was believed to be 83 and had been in poor health, had entered hospital on May 27 with acute pneumonia.

"The royal family members have acknowledged Crown Prince Abdullah as sovereign of the country ... after which the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and ruler of Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz chose Prince Sultan as crown prince and the family members acknowledged that," the statement said.

In the past two years, the kingdom has faced a violent al Qaeda campaign to end seven decades of his royal family's rule in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines.

In Cairo, an Arab League official said this week's Arab summit in Egypt may be postponed following the death of King Fahd and consultations on the meeting will take place in the next few hours.

Asked if the Aug. 3 summit would go ahead, an Arab League official told Reuters: "We have to wait for consultations to take place in the coming few hours or less."

The official, who asked not to be named, said the summit that is due to be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh could be "delayed or postponed. I don't think we are talking about cancellation."

Fahd ascended the throne of one of the world's richest nations in June 1982, at the height of Saudi Arabia's petrodollar boom, but his 23-year reign was marked by three regional wars and al Qaeda militancy in his final years.

His strong alliance with Washington and his decision to allow the deployment of US forces in Islam's birthplace in 1990 enraged militants loyal to Saudi-born al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden has vowed to depose the Saudi royal family who he blasted as US "agents and stooges" and whose rule he described as an "extension of the crusader wars against Muslims".

US troops remained until the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

By that time the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, carried mainly by Saudi hijackers, had already clouded the relationship with the United States which had been Fahd's foreign policy cornerstone.

Suicide bombings in the Saudi capital Riyadh two years later left his kingdom facing insurgency at home while its strategic alliance with Washington, centred on oil and Gulf security, had reached crisis point.

But relations regained strength after intense diplomacy by both countries and Riyadh's support for the US-led war on terror.

- REUTERS