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Saudi King Fahd, 84, dies in Riyadh hospital
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-01 15:28
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, who moved his country closer to the United States
but ruled in name only since suffering a stroke in 1995, died early Monday, the
Saudi royal court said. He was 84.
Crown Prince Abdullah, the king's half brother and Saudi Arabia's de factor
ruler, was appointed the country's new monarch.
Saudi Arabian King Fahd is seen during the visit of Lebanese
President Emile Lahoud to Jeddah in this April 15, 2000 file photo. Saudi
state television interrupted regular broadcasting with recitations of the
Koran and one Western diplomat said he had information that Kind Fahd had
died in hospital August 1,
2005.[Reuters/file] | "With all sorrow and
sadness, the royal court in the name of his highness Crown Prince Abdullah bin
Abdul Aziz and all members of the family announces the death of the custodian of
the two holy mosques, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz," according to a statement read
on state-run Saudi TV by the country's information minister.
Fahd died at approximately 2:30 EDT, a senior Saudi official in Washington
told The Associated Press. US President Bush was alerted within minutes of
Fahd's death, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Saudi TV, which said the king was 84 years of age, broke with regular
broadcasting to announce Fahd's death. Quranic verse recitals followed the
announcement by the minister, Iyad bin Amin Madani, whose voice wavered with
emotion as he read the statement.
The Prince and Princess of Wales walk with
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd (R) at the Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh in this
November 17, 1986 file photo.
[Reuters/file] | Madani said only that the king died of an illness.
Fahd died at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Saudi capital,
Riyadh, where he was admitted on May 27 for unspecified medical tests, an
official at the hospital told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity
because news of the monarch's death had not been officially announced at the
time.
At the time of his widely publicized hospitalization that caused concern home
and abroad, officials said he was suffering from pneumonia and a high fever.
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