King Salman admitted to hospital
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s 84-year-old ruler King Salman was admitted into hospital in Riyadh yesterday for gall bladder inflammation, the royal court said, prompting the postponement of the Iraqi prime minister’s high-profile visit.
It is rare for Saudi Arabia to report on the health of its ageing monarch, who has ruled the top oil exporter and the Arab world’s biggest economy since 2015.
The king was “admitted [yesterday] to King Faisal specialist hospital in Riyadh for some medical tests due to cholecystitis”, inflammation of the gall bladder, the royal court said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The announcement made around at 4.30am local time did not disclose any further details.
Iraqi Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi’s scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia, which was due to start on yesterday, has been postponed after the king’s hos- pitalisation, according to the Saudi foreign minister.
“In recognition of the extremely important visit and a desire to make it a success, our wise leadership in coordination with our brothers in Iraq have decided to postpone the visit” until the king leaves hospital, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan wrote on Twitter.
Under the king’s rule, Saudi Arabia launched ambitious economic reforms for a post-oil era and gave more rights to women, but also adopted a more assertive foreign policy and entered a war in neighbouring Yemen.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia dismissed reports and mounting speculation that the king was planning to abdicate in favour of his young son, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, widely seen as the de facto ruler.
Prince Mohammed’s meteoric rise to power coincided with a crackdown on critics, dissenters and royal family members. Saudi Arabia has been engulfed by a series of controversies since he was named crown prince and heir to the throne in June 2017.