Sunday Times 2
World leaders head to Saudi Arabia after king’s death; Obama cuts short Inda visit
View(s):RIYADH, Jan 24, (AFP) – World leaders headed to Saudi Arabia today to offer condolences following the death of King Abdullah, with US President Barack Obama cutting short a trip to India to pay respects.
Obama will travel to Riyadh on Tuesday to meet new King Salman, the White House said.
The late Saudi King Abdullah and his successor and new King, Salman. AFP
Since Abdullah took the throne in 2005, Saudi Arabia has been a prime Arab ally of Washington, and last year joined the coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group.
One after another, foreign aircraft landed at a Riyadh military base where leaders from Africa, Europe and Asia descended a red-carpeted ramp to be welcomed by Saudi officials and served a traditional tiny cup of Arabic coffee.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a rare visit to the regional rival to offer condolences, television pictures showed.
Others who came included French President Francois Hollande, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, and Spain’s King Felipe VI.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince Charles were expected too.
Away from the airport, shops were open and life continued with almost no indication that a new era had began, except for billboards expressing condolences for Abdullah’s death.
Abdullah died on Friday at the age of about 90 after being hospitalised with pneumonia.
He was a cautious reformer who led the Gulf state through a turbulent decade in a region shaken by the Arab Spring uprisings and Islamic extremism.
World leaders have praised the king as a key mediator between Muslims and the West, but campaigners criticised his rights record and urged Salman to do more to protect freedom of speech and women’s rights.
Mourners praying near the body of King Abdullah during his funeral at Riyadh's Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque on Friday.
Gulf rulers, and leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, attended Abdullah’s traditionally simple funeral at Riyadh’s Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque on Friday.
The body was quickly moved to nearby Al-Od public cemetery and buried in a grave marked only by a book-sized plain grey stone.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak arrived later to deliver condolences, as did Iraqi President Fuad Masum.
Masum had met with Abdullah last November, helping to repair long-strained relations between the neighbours.
On Friday evening hundreds of Saudis queued to enter a royal palace where they rubbed cheeks and kissed the hands of their new leaders, in a symbolic pledge of allegiance.
Mourning ceremonies were planned for Saturday and Sunday evenings at another palace, official media said.
Obama paid tribute to Abdullah as a “valued” ally while the State Department indicated cooperation between Washington and Riyadh would continue.
Salman, 79, pledged to keep the conservative, oil-rich Muslim kingdom on a steady course and moved to cement his hold on power.
He vowed to “remain, with God’s strength, attached to the straight path that this state has walked since its establishment”.