King Abdullah bin

Abdul Aziz Al Saud

A.k.a. King Abdullah
King Abdullah with foreign
minster of Syria Walid Muallem
 Family
• Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1924
• Father– Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdur Rahman
Al Saud (more commonly known as
Ibn Saud)
• Mother– Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim;
she was 8th wife of Ibn Saud
• Has between 50 and 60 siblings
• Royal family was poor until they
discovered oil in the 1940s
 Rise to Power
• First major political position was as the
mayor of Mecca
• He was later appointed commander of
the Saudi Arabian National Guard
• After Abdullah’s half brother and former
King Faisal was assassinated in 1975,
his half brother Khalid took the throne
• Khalid appointed Abdullah to the
Council of Ministers, which is an
advisory council for the king
 Rise to Power (continued)
• In 1982, Khalid died, and Abdullah’s
half brother Fahd became king
• Abdullah was promoted to Deputy
Prime Minister
• Former King Fahd endured a series of
strokes that impeded his ruling
• Abdullah acted as a regent for 9
years until Fahd’s death on August 1,
2005, when Abdullah finally became
king
 Perspective on Terrorism
• Saudi Arabia is made up of
fundamentalist Muslims and
modernizing reformers, which make it
difficult to rule
• Because Abdullah supports
modernization, various terrorist attacks
have occurred, many of which have
been traced to Al-Qaeda
• Fundamentalists and reformers both
want their way, which leads to various
uprisings and rebellions
• Abdullah responds to these with
security raids, arrests, torture, and
 Foreign Relations
• While visiting the U.K. in October 2007,
people accused him of being a murderer
and a torturer
• Many people also felt that females and
homosexuals were in a harmful environment
• There have also been alleged bribes
involving weaponry between the U.K. and
Saudi Arabia
• In 2005, Abdullah attempted to revive his
2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which was
supposed to help relations between Israel
and the entire Arab region
• The plan received attention in 2005, but
 Philanthropic Movements
• King Abdullah’s wealth is estimated at
over $21 billion
• With his money, he has paid for the
surgery for conjoined twins
• Donated $50 million and $10 million
worth of relief funds to the Great
Sichuan Earthquake
• Gave $10 billion to help found the King
Abdullah University of Science and
Technology
• Abdullah founded 2 libraries—one in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and another one
in Casablanca, Morocco