World Leaders Head to Saudi after King's Death
World leaders converged on Saudi Arabia Saturday to offer condolences following the death of King Abdullah, with U.S. 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.
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 guests included French President Francois Hollande, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani, Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, Spain's King Felipe VI and Jordan's King Abdullah II.
Prince Charles and Prime Minister David Cameron came from Britain, while Russia sent Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
They gathered at the Al-Yamamah Palace, the royal court, to line up and greet King Salman and his heir Crown Prince Moqren, television pictures showed.
Outside, a helicopter patrolled overhead and four lanes of cars -- everything from luxury Bentleys to everyday models -- inched towards the palace grounds carrying Saudi well-wishers past guards with pistols strapped to their thighs.
Away from the palace and nearby roadblocks, 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.
The government declared Sunday a holiday so citizens throughout the country could offer condolences and pledge symbolic allegiance to their new monarch.
Abdullah died on Friday at the age of about 90 after being hospitalized 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 criticized his rights record and urged Salman to do more to protect freedom of speech and women's rights.
"Saudi Arabia is a partner, both economic and political," Hollande said before his arrival in Riyadh with Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Other presidents and prime ministers were present on Friday for Abdullah's traditionally simple funeral and burial.
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".
He called for "unity and solidarity" among Muslims.
Moving to clear uncertainty over the transition to the next generation, he named his nephew, Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as second in line to the throne behind Crown Prince Moqren, 69.
That helps to solidify control by his Sudayri branch of the royal family.
Salman also appointed one of his own sons, Prince Mohammed, as defense minister of the world's leading oil exporter.
"In spite of all the earlier articles and fears surrounding the succession, the Saudi royal family handled the succession without even a hint of crisis, and laid the ground work for the future," wrote Anthony Cordesman, of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Since the death in 1953 of the kingdom's founder, King Abdul Aziz bin Saud, the throne has passed systematically from one of his sons to another.
As the top producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia has been the driving force behind the cartel's refusal to slash output to support oil prices, which have fallen by more than 50 percent since June.
Ali al-Naimi remains the kingdom's oil minister, and the International Energy Agency's chief economist said he did not foresee major policy shifts.
"I expect and hope that they will continue to be a stabilization factor in the oil markets," Fatih Birol told AFP.
Saudi Arabia is home to Islam's holiest sites, and its role as a spiritual leader for Sunni Muslims has seen it vying for influence with Shiite-dominated Iran.
Tehran nonetheless offered its condolences and dispatched Zarif.
Behind his thick, jet-black mustache and goatee, Abdullah had a shrewd grasp of regional politics.
Wary of the rising influence of Islamist movements, Saudi Arabia has been a generous supporter of Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since the army ousted Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sisi arrived in Riyadh on Saturday, after Egypt declared seven days of official mourning for Abdullah.
Riyadh has also played a key role in supporting opposition to Iranian-backed President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and will allow US troops to use its territory to train rebel fighters.
The kingdom has led regional concern over instability in its southern neighbor Yemen, where witnesses said Huthi militiamen who control the capital had encircled the parliament building overnight Thursday following the resignation of the president.
Yemen's parliamentary speaker was still able to fly into Riyadh on Saturday.
Salman is widely expected to follow closely in Abdullah's footsteps, in foreign and energy policy as well as in making moderate reforms.
Abdullah pushed through cautious changes, challenging conservatives with such moves as including women in the advisory Shura Council.
He promoted economic development and oversaw accession to the World Trade Organization, tapping into massive oil wealth to build new cities, universities and railways.
But the kingdom is still strongly criticized for a dismal human rights record, including the imprisonment and flogging of dissidents. It is also the only country in the world that does not allow women to drive.
Source: Agence France Presse
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