King Abdullah ibn Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, the powerful U.S. ally who sought to modernise the ultra conservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms, including nudging open greater opportunities for women, Born in Riyadh in 1924, one of the dozens of sons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. He ascended to the throne in 2005 He had only rudimentary education. His strict upbringing was exemplified by three days he spent in prison as a young man as punishment by his father for failing to give his seat to a visitor, a violation of Bedouin hospitality He was selected as crown prince in 1982 on the day his half-brother late King Fahd ascended to the throne. He became de facto ruler in 1995 when a stroke incapacitated late King Fahd. He was believed to have long rankled at the closeness of the alliance with the United States, and as regent he pressed Washington to withdraw the troops it had deployed in the kingdom since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The U.S. finally did so in 2003. He was constantly frustrated by Washington’s failure to broker a settlement to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. In 2000, Abdullah convinced the Arab League to approve an unprecedented offer that all Arab states would agree to peace with Israel if it withdrew from lands it captured in 1967. Alarmed by the prospect of a rift, President George W. Bush soon after advocated for the first time the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. He was a strong supporter of education, building universities at home and increasing scholarships abroad for Saudi students. He (for the first time) gave women seats on the Shura Council, an unelected body that advises the king and government. He promised women would be able to vote and run in 2015 elections for municipal councils, the only elections held in the country. He appointed the first female deputy minister in 2009. Two Saudi female athletes competed in the Olympics for the first time in 2012, and a small handful of women were granted licenses to work as lawyers during his rule. One of his most ambitious projects was a Western-style university that bears his name, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which opened in 2009. He treaded carefully in the face of the ultra conservative Wahhabi clerics who hold near total sway over society and, in return, give the Al Saud family’s rule religious legitimacy. May Allahs Rahama and Gafara be with him and may his gentle soul rest in absolute perfect peace Ameeen My condolences to the royal Family of Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud, the entire Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Coast Countries (GCC) and the entire Muslim Ummah
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 08:41:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015