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King Abdullah has passed away - PDF extends its condolences to the Saudi people

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King Abdullah's Legacy in Asia
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah played a major role in maneuvering the kingdom toward Asia.

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By Ankit Panda
January 23, 2015

After spending multiple days in intensive care, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia has died at the age of 90. He is being succeeded by his brother, 79-year-old Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz. King Abdullah’s death comes at a geopolitically turbulent time for the Middle East as a region. With the effects of Syria’s civil war still reverberating across the region, amplified by a growing Islamic State threat to the north and a ever-intensifying Houthi rebellion in Yemen to the South, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has stood as a bastion of monarchic stability in a troubled region. In addition to acute regional crises, Saudi Arabia’s foe across the Persian Gulf, Iran, continues to gain geopolitical leverage across the region. Additionally, with world crude oil prices at roughly $50 per barrel, the resource-dependent Saudi government could face a fiscal nightmare.

King Abdullah, domestically regarded as one of the more reformist Saudi monarchs, was hardly absent when it came to the kingdom’s foreign policy with countries outside the Middle-East. In particular, he oversaw a major period of diplomatic rapprochement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and almost every major Asian country. Where previous Saudi monarchs had focused on maneuvering the kingdom’s foreign policy almost exclusively within the Middle East, Abdullah eagerly sought out every opportunity to capitalize on the ascent of Asia’s major emerging economies. Even beyond economic cooperation and trade, Abdullah built broader strategic ties between Saudi Arabia and Asian states.

Most notably, Abdullah was the first Saudi monarch to travel to China. With an inaugural trip in January 2006 — less than a year after he formally took over as monarch after King Fahd’s death — Abdullah kicked off Saudi Arabia’s relationship with China with a series of major agreements. Abdullah, shortly after taking the throne, adopted a “look east” trade policy for the kingdom — with the goal of having over half of all Saudi oil exports bound for Asia. Beijing, a major consumer of fossil fuels, saw a stable and sustainable diplomatic relationship with the Saudi government as key for its own energy security. Over the years under Abdullah’s reign, Saudi Arabia began to develop some faith in China’s ability to contribute constructively in helping the Middle East resolve its perennial international disputes. In 2008, following the devastating earthquake in Sichuan, Saudi Arabia was the largest aid donor for China. In 2009, China took over from the United States as the top buyer of Saudi oil. That same year, Chinese President Hu Jintao discussed the scope for broader Sino-Saudi cooperation on regional issues. Since then, relations between Riyadh and Beijing have remained strong amid growing turbulence in the Middle East.

Similarly, in 2006, Abdullah embarked on a major bilateral initiative toward Asia’s other major emerging economy: India. At the conclusion of that 2006 trip, India and Saudi Arabia concluded a document known as the “Delhi Declaration,” which was the first major bilateral interaction between India and Saudi Arabia which had previously remained distant due to the kingdom’s reluctance to approach Islamic Pakistan’s rival. Saudi Arabia, for example, supported Pakistan’s cause in the India-Pakistan War of 1971 and, as a major U.S. ally, remained distant from Soviet-aligned states (India and the Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Friendship in 1971). In 2010, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Saudi Arabia, resulting in the “Riyadh Declaration” which set out a road map for closer cooperation on a range of issues. Saudi Arabia’s new king, King Salman, visited India in his capacity as the government’s deputy prime minister last year and concluded a Memorandum of Understanding on Defense.

Beyond India and China, the King Abdullah years saw Saudi Arabia grow ever closer to Asia’s major Muslim states including Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Malaysia. The kingdom expanded its economic, political, and, in some cases, defense relationships with all these countries under Abdullah’s rule. Pakistan, in particular, remains a major partner for Saudi Arabia in South Asia. Under King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia intensified its involvement in Pakistani internal affairs, always maintaining a close relationship with Pakistan’s military and intelligence community (though ties were strained during when Asif Ali Zardari was prime minister and the Pakistan Peoples Party was in power). Current Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spent eight years in exile in Saudi Arabia, and as leaked Wikileaks cables showed, was a long-time favorite of the Saudi royal leadership, including King Abdullah.

Abdullah is well known for his reformist tendencies within the kingdom, but he also added a degree of dynamism to a Saudi foreign policy that had traditionally been myopically reliant on the country’s close alliance with the United States and its dominance over global oil production. With his overtures to major Asian states, King Abdullah succeeded in helping Saudi Arabia find friends outside the Middle-East. With King Salman now at the helm, the kingdom’s approach to Asia will likely remain unchanged for some time. Saudi Arabia remains internally stable, even if its neighbors are immersed in crisis.

All this said, King Salman, despite the persistent rumors about his poor health, has the potential to be a transformative Saudi ruler in his own right. Saudi Arabia’s domestic stability and approach to the Middle East will likely remain unpredictable, but its relationships with major Asian countries will endure through this period of royal succession.
 
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Buddy, nobody gives a living crab!
Mind your own business rather than fatwa geeri..I am entitled to my opinion and freedom to reject what I consider or believe as false...

The reason I commented on your post is your denial of an essential part of your religion. If you do not believe in islam then what you say or do is irrelevant to me. If you do then know that Hadeeth is an integral part of your belief. A lot of rulings and beliefs have been explained and practiced by the Prophet SAW which have not been clarified in Quran.
 
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Go tell Abdullah that god is the best of judges since under his rule hundreds of people have been beheaded, crucified, amputated, you name it.

Crucified? What the **** did you smoke?

And if any of the beheading/amputation sentencing was unfair on purpose then he will answer to Allah. As for the Saudi policies, or policies of the house of Saud, throughout the world that has caused so much loss, grief and sorrow for Muslims in the world and Islam in general, he will have to answer for that regardless!

Because Saudi Arabia is not a system based government. It is a person (king) based system. Every one answers for his deeds. You do not worry about that. Dr Assad has been battling animals that Abdullah had sent to his country. Dr Assad is still here. Abdullah is gone. Don't you see the Divine hand in this judgement?

Don't you think the massive age difference was more of a factor here? It is clear, either way, that the US imposed policies will continue and that Saudi Oil money will continue to further US policies.

انا لله و انا اليه راجعون
may allah grant him paradise.

Hmm.....for all the good that he did for the Muslims of the world?

Let's just pray that Allah treat him exactly as he deserves to be treated!

Kings are Kings. There are many who agree with him and his policies and many more who don't. It is better to keep quite and let the history judge him.

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ‎

True that.......Although, I am quite certain that we are also allowed to judge him especially considering the fact that Saud family is the reason that Muslims are in this state today. I had my doubts when I was much younger and over the years I have come across proof that the puppet Saud family has supported the US against all her ambitions and operations in the Muslim world. So much pain the Saud family has gifted to the Muslim world, it is as if they want to surpass the prophesied anti-Islam mayhem by Dajjal!
 
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الذين اذا اصابتهم مصيبة قالوا انا لله وانا اليه راجعون

We are all going to die one day. Anyone secretly gloating about this news should know that their own time will come too and then there will be people out there who will say the same about you.

King Abdullah was a great leader. His rule will be remembered as very successful in a time where the ME as a whole was on fire while KSA remained a bastion of peace and prosperity.

Having said that then I still believe that significant reforms must take place in KSA, the Arab world as a whole and Muslim world.

Perhaps you should read "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" and familiarize yourself with the concept of Economic Hitmen, Jackals and the use of US military. Or just continue to live your life with your eyes close, as usual!



Can you guys deal with that @Daneshmand troublemaker? I believe that he is getting on the nerves of many people. Especially in a thread like this which deals with the death of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Isn't that a self assumed title, meaningless and pointless in reality? Basically it is meant to somehow legitimise the extremely un-Islamic ways of the Kingdom; especially the way in which the successors are chosen!
 
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January 25, 2015

Abdullah’s wall sketch goes viral

Drawing triggers prayers, expressions of sorrow, love

A wall sketch of the late Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has gone viral on the Internet and triggered more emotional outbursts among mourners.

Ahmad Zuhair drew the sketch of King Abdullah walking away on a wall in the Red Sea resort of Jeddah as hundreds of onlookers watched him.

In his sketch, King Abdullah is walking away towards an unknown destination. “Where are you heading? Turn around and greet us. We still long for your compassion and we have not had enough of you,” Ahmad wrote in a calligraphic style next to the old man leaning on his walking stick.

The artist said that he had been inspired and guided by his deep love for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the title that the last three kings of Saudi Arabia, Fahad (1982-2005), Abdullah (2005 – 2015) and Salman who became monarch on Friday, have chosen for themselves.

“As I pray for the eternal peace of King Abdullah’s soul, I also pray for King Salman, Crown Prince Muqrin and Deputy Crown Prince Nayef, wishing them success in leading the country,” Ahmad said, quoted by local news site Al Marsad on Sunday.

Onlookers kept praying for King Abdullah as they looked at his figure taking shape on the wall, while motorists slowed down to admire the drawing, the daily said.

Pictures of the drawing were widely circulated on the internet, triggering waves of highly appreciative comments.


Abdullah’s wall sketch goes viral | GulfNews.com


Below is a video of it. I could not embed it as PDF showed an error

‫رسم صورة الملك عبدالله على جدار كورنيش‬‎ - YouTube



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OPINION
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN \

01/25/2015 22:32

How did Saudi King Abdullah become a world hero?

It is time to wake from the slumber of hypocrisy and moral relativism. Saudi Arabia is not a role model, and leaders who laud it as one deserve to be called onto the carpet.
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Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud speaks before a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry (not pictured) at his private residence in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. (photo credit:REUTERS)

You’d think that Mandela or Gandhi had passed away, such were the poetic love letters sent by world leaders and the way the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah was announced by media.

The sixth ruler of what popular Palestinian commentator Jamal Dajani calls “the medieval kingdom,” Abdullah was portrayed as a great world leader. The New York Times lauded him as a “shrewd force who re-shaped Saudi Arabia.”

“He will be remembered for his long years of service to the kingdom, for his commitment to peace and for strengthening understanding between faiths. My thoughts and prayers are with the Saudi royal family and the people of the kingdom,” declared UK Prime Minister David Cameron. He worked for “peace and prosperity,” Cameron said. Former UK leader Tony Blair claimed that the king was a “sound ally, a patient and skillful modernizer.”

Flags in England (but not in Scotland) flew at half-mast out of respect, and supposedly due to protocol, for this most wonderful and inspiring of monarchs.

US President Barack Obama spoke of a “genuine and warm friendship.” US Secretary of State John Kerry was among the most laudatory, calling Abdullah “a man of wisdom and vision... a revered leader.”

The media boasted about Abdullah’s “more than 30 wives” and fawned over the 15,000 members of the royal family, who hold the country’s top diplomatic, military and political posts.

One wonders if Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek saw the great wisdom of Abdullah when she was dragged from a van by Saudi soldiers last year and executed publicly by a sword-wielding man in a white robe, as crowds looked on in pleasure. She was sentenced to death at the age of 17 in 2007 after her employers claimed she was responsible for the death of their child, that she was taking care of as part of her duties as a housemaid. A video posted online shows the gruesome ceremony, the result of the great wisdom Western leaders showed such fawning appreciation for.

Did Burmese maid Layla Bint Abdul Mutaleb Bassim share the “modern” vision of the king as she was dragged through the streets and then beheaded in public while being held by four soldiers on January 18 of this year? She plead for her life and declared her innocence. It is tradition in Saudi Arabia’s injustice system that executioners ask those they kill for forgiveness prior to beheading them. But the young Bassim shouted in the street, blindfolded and with her arms tied behind her back: “haram [forbidden], haram, haram, I did not kill, I do not forgive you, this is an injustice.” And then the sword of modernity, of progress, of “warm and genuine friendship,” fell on her neck – three times, as the executioner could not kill her in one stroke. The man who filmed the gruesome legal murder of Bassim was arrested.

And for the dozens of other victims of such executions, many of them young foreign maids, why don’t the flags fly at half-mast in London? In other places in Saudi Arabia there are public canings. Raif Badawi was whipped in public 50 times on January 9 for “insulting religion”; he critiqued Saudi religious clerics on his blog. His 50 lashes were part of a 10-year sentence including 1,000 lashes, to be administered in 50 sessions over 20 weeks. These public whippings were a part of what those like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Abdullah’s “important voice [which] left a lasting impact on his country... a guiding force.”

Modi was in an “hour of grief” for the dead king.

Modi is right, in a sense. The Saudi king indeed left a “lasting impact”: bloodstained streets and scarred backs. He made a lasting impact on thousands of poor people from families throughout Asia, such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Burma, whose loved ones who were beheaded after working as semi-enslaved housekeepers in the kingdom. When the Times said Abdullah “re-shaped” Saudi Arabia, it was correct; decapitating people is re-shaping them indeed.

THERE ARE an estimated 9 million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia. Many of them are young women brought over as “maids.” Thousands flee abusive employers every month to their embassies or safe houses. Usually their passports have been confiscated and they have few options. One Sri Lankan maid told an embassy employee, “After three months of work I asked madam [my employer] for my salary and she started to beat me with iron bars and wooden sticks... she would take a hot iron and burn me or heat up a knife and put it on my body... she threatened to take me to a police station and have me arrested.” In Saudi Arabia, you can be executed for false accusations like this.

The great “modernizer” for whom leaders waxed lyrical also did “great service” for gay men. In July 2014 a gay man was sentenced to three years and 450 lashes in Saudi Arabia for the crime of using Twitter to arrange dates with other men.

But the homosexual men being lashed for using satanic Twitter are only one part of the modernization pie. Another part is the women like the “girl from Qatif,” who was gang-raped in 2006 by men who filmed the rape. Because they did her the “service” of filming it she wasn’t stoned for “adultery” but rather was mercifully given 200 lashes for “being alone with a man” and sentenced to six months in prison.

The benevolent “modernising” king pardoned the girl after international criticism, but this left many Saudi reformers non-plussed who noted that other victims of the legal system “deserve a better process for everyone in the country to get their rights” and not be whipped for being raped.

When the world leaders line up to console Saudi Arabia in a hagiographic smorgasbord we should remember who they didn’t console. They didn’t console the hundreds of young women executed in public. They didn’t console the homosexuals and gang-rape victims being lashed and imprisoned. They didn’t console any of the millions of house-slaves in the kingdom.

Female politicians from the West will be falling all over each other for some reason to pay tribute to a man who ruled a kingdom where women cannot drive and are imprisoned for campaigning for the right to drive.

These are not momentary lapses in an otherwise just legal system; these crimes against humanity, including most of the population of Saudi Arabia, are the essence of the system King Abdullah presided over.

Saudi Arabia represents one of the greatest blights of extreme legal injustice in the world.

HOW DID Abdullah become a revered personage? Amr Mousa of the Arab League called him a “father figure for the Middle East.” Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said, “He was a great leader, implemented lots of reforms and in a discreet way was a strong advocate of women, appropriately so.”

In reality his “reforms” and “advocacy” would have been behind the times in the 18th century, and probably in the 5th.

Saudi Arabia is an aberration, an anachronism that should be viewed as a pariah.

Today it is a disgrace to the Muslim world whose holy sites it administers. It is partly because of Saudi Arabia that much of the Middle East is in the grips of extremism, not in spite of it. Saudi exported extremist Wahhabi Islam, that many Muslims once correctly deemed blasphemy, throughout the region. Instead of using oil wealth to help the poor in the region and set an example of a place of coexistence and modernism, and encourage the education of women and the enlightenment of people within a modern Islamic context, it chose to turn back time and create a museum of modern injustice.

The media was hard pressed on Saturday to find any voices who would dare critique Saudi policy at Davos, where world leaders were gathered for the economic summit.

France24 happened upon Salil Shetty, an Indian human rights activist and secretary general of Amnesty International, who noted Saudi Arabia was “insensitive to human rights and dignity... it violates rights on a high level and breeds terrorism.”

How Saudi Arabia became such a paragon of modernism, rather than a pariah, is truly a tale of the failure of the modern world to understand basic human decency.

The extraordinary part of hearing the likes of Christine Lagarde praise Saudi Arabia for advances in “women’s rights” is knowing that had she been born there she would have spent her life behind a black chador, seeing the world through a tiny slit. She would not be allowed to drive or go abroad without permission of a male “chaperone.” Does President Obama not ponder how the lives of his wife and daughters would be in the kingdom? King Abdullah imprisoned his own daughters, princess Sahar and Jawaher, in a house for a decade. They are still there – but Obama won’t be visiting them.

Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally to many Western countries, and realpolitik would require condolences for the dead king. But why such fulsome praise for his “modernity”, “reforms” and “women’s rights”? What is the explanation for claims he was a “wise” and “shrewd” leader? The International Business Times headlined its obituary: “Late Saudi King Abdullah Leaves Legacy As Women’s Rights Advocate.” If it was really all about oil it could have said something more along the lines of, “We value the strategic partnership and regional stability.” Where did all this talk about “reforms” and “women’s rights” come from, in relation to the most abusive of women and least reformist regime in the world? It isn’t just about oil; had it been about oil the world leaders could praise Abdullah’s “economic policies.” But they chose to concentrate on the very policies that are the worst in Saudi.

If, in the West, or basically any country in the world, women were treated as they are in Saudi Arabia – as chattel, to be beheaded in public, or traded like animals – would we talk of reform? Why did the Anti-Defamation League tweet four times about Abdullah, once calling him a “wise and distinguished leader”? Why do other Jewish leaders praise this king who banned Jews, who published textbooks calling Jews “monkeys”, that supported anti-Semitism unheard of since the Nazis, and call him an “interfaith” leader of “peace”? When Saudi Arabia talks about peace, it means the peace Saudi Arabia wants, which only serves its oil interests. Why buy into it? There are millions of Arabs and Muslims who speak out against Saudi Arabia and who want a world of human rights and democracy and are condemned to death and marginalization. They are mocked by this outpouring of respect; over 40 countries have declared the king’s death a national mourning period. Why doesn’t anyone speak for the victims of Saudi Arabia? They deserve a day of national mourning.

THERE ARE new ads on buses in Dundee, Scotland, that declare: “He who sleeps on a full stomach while his neighbor is hungry is not one of us - a teaching of Mohammed.”

They are intended to show Islam as a religion helping the poor. Saudi Arabia appears not to have heard of this particular Islamic teaching. Western leaders have betrayed the values of not only Muslims, but their own countries.

It is time to wake from the slumber of hypocrisy and moral relativism. Saudi Arabia is not a role model, and leaders who laud it as one deserve to be called onto the carpet.

Follow the author on twitter @Sfrantzman
well im sure you are clever enough to know what to do with both your opinions :sarcastic::agree:
 
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King Abdullah, a friend, well-wisher of India: Sushma Swaraj | Zee News
Tuesday, January 27, 2015 - 17:53

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Tuesday said King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was a "well-wisher" of India who would be remembered for his "genuine" affection towards the people of this country.


"With his passing away, the world has lost a great and visionary statesman who led his country towards remarkable development and prosperity," Swaraj said in a condolence book at the embassy of Saudi Arabia here.

Describing the late king as a "friend and well-wisher" of India, the minister said, "He guided India-Saudi bilateral engagement to newer heights. He will be remembered for his genuine warmth and affection for India and its people."

"We are deeply saddened by the news of the demise of His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques."

"On behalf of the government and people of India, I offer sincere and heartfelt condolences," Swaraj added.

King Abdullah, 90, died Jan 23, weeks after being admitted to a hospital. He was suffering from lung infection and ruled the Saudi kingdom since 2005.
 
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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques receives US President

The US President's accompanying delegation included US Secretary of State John Kerry; US Assistant President and National Security Advisor Suzanne Rice, and a number of Advisors to the US President and US senior officials.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud held a luncheon in honor of US President Barack Obama.

The US President shook hands with the princes, ministers and senior military and civil officials. For his part, the Custodian of the Two holy Mosques shook hands with the US President's accompanying delegation.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques receives US President (SPA)
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U.S. President Obama and first lady Michelle are greeted by Saudi Arabia's King Salman as they arrive at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. (Reuters)
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some pics of obama and michelle visit.. a lot of congress members have attended as well even former officials
some names:
John Brennan
Condoleeza Rice
Jim Baker
John Kerry
McCain
Ben Scowcroft
Stephen J. Hadley
Samuel Berger
Susan Rice
Gen. Lloyd J. Austin
Mark Warner
Nancy Pelosi
Ami Bera
Eliot L. Engel
Joseph Crowley

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