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He succeeded to the throne on August 1, 2005 after the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. When Crown Prince, he governed Saudi Arabia as regent from 1998 to 2005. He was Commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard from 1962 to November 2010, and is one of the world's wealthiest royals.[5]
King Khalid appointed Abdullah as Second Deputy Prime Minister, which is second in line of succession to the Saudi throne. However, Abdullah's appointment caused friction in the House of Saudi.[4] Fahd and the Sudairi Seven supported the appointment of their own full brother, Sultan. [4] Abdullah was pressured to concede control of SANG in return for his appointment as Second Deputy Prime Minister. In August 1977, this caused a debate between hundreds of princes in Riyadh.[4] Abdullah did not concede authority of SANG because he feared that would weaken his authority.[4]
Crown Prince
In May 1982, when Fahd became King, Abdullah became Crown Prince the same day. He maintained his position as head of the armed forces. When Fahd was incapacitated by a major stroke in 1995,[6] Abdullah acted as regent ruler of Saudi Arabia.
In August 2001, he ordered Ambassador Bandar bin Sultan to return to Washington. This reportedly occurred after Abdullah witnessed a brutality between an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian woman.[7] He later also framed Israel guilty for attacking families of accused suspects.[7]
Domestic affairs
He has implemented many reform measures. He has re-shuffled the Ministry of Education's leadership in February 2009 by bringing in the King's pro-reform son-in-law as the new minister. He also at the same time appointed Nora bint Abdullah al-Fayez, a US-educated former teacher, as deputy education minister in charge of a new department for female students.[11] He has done a top-to-bottom restructuring of the country's courts to introduce, among other things, review of judicial decisions and more professional training for Shari'a judges. He has been responsible for the creation of a new investment promotion agency to overhaul the onceconvoluted process of starting a business in Saudi Arabia. He has created a regulatory body for capital markets. He has promoted the construction of the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (the country's new flagship and controversially-coed institution for advanced scientific research). He has done a substantial budgetary investment in educating the workforce for future jobs. The Saudi government is also encouraging the development of non-hydrocarbon sectors in which the Kingdom has a comparative advantage, including mining, solar energy, and
religious tourism. The Kingdom's 2010 budget reflects these prioritiesabout 25 percent is devoted to education aloneand amounts to a significant economic stimulus package.[12][13] In 2005, he implemented a government scholarship program to send young Saudi men and women to Western universities for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The program offers funds for tuition and living expenses up to four years. It is estimated that more than 70,000 students have studied abroad in more than 25 countries. United States, England, and Australia are the top three destinations mostly aimed for by the young Saudi students. There are now more than 22,000 Saudi students studying in the US, exceeding pre-9/11 levels. Public health engagement has included breast cancer awareness and CDC cooperation to set up an advanced epidemic screening network that protected this year's 3 million Hajj pilgrims.[12][14]
King Abdullah with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 11, 2007. The response of his administration to homegrown terrorism has been a series of crackdowns including raids by security forces, arrests, torture[15] and public beheadings. He has vowed to fight terrorist ideologies within the country. He has made the protection of Saudi Arabia's critical infrastructure a top security priority.[16] His strategy against terrorism has been two-pronged: he has attacked the roots of the extremism that fed Al-Qaida through education and judicial reforms to weaken the influence of the most reactionary elements of Saudi Arabia's religious establishment. He is also promoting economic diversification. He decreed in August 2010 that only officially approved religious scholars associated with the Senior Council of Ulema would be allowed to issue fatwas. Similar decrees since 2005 were previously seldom enforced. Individual fatwas relating to personal matters were exempt from the royal decree. The decree also instructed the Grand Mufti to identify eligible scholars.[17] In light of the 20102011 Middle East and North Africa protests, Abdullah has laid down a $37billion programme of new spending including new jobless benefits, education and housing subsidies, debt write-offs, and a new sports channel. There was also a pledged to spend a total of $400bn by the end of 2014 to improve education, health care and the kingdoms infrastructure.[18] Saudi police arrested 100 Shiite protesters who complained of government discrimination.[19] In September, 2011, the king announced women's right to vote in the 2015 municipal council elections, a first significant reform step in the country since the protests. He also stated that women would become eligible to take part in the unelected shura.[20][21] In January 2012 King Abdullah dismissed the head of Saudi Arabia's powerful religious police, replacing him with a more moderate cleric, state news agency SPA reported without giving reasons. Abdullatif Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, was named in place of Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Humain, to head the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. King Abdullah,
appointed Humain in 2009 to head the "mutaween" which ensures the strict application of the country's ultra-conservative version of Islam, as a step towards reforming it. Humain hired consultants to restructure the organisation, met local human rights groups and consulted professional image-builders in a broad public relations campaign. Under his leadership the commission also investigated and punished some out-of-control officers for misbehaviour.[22]
Abdullah visits the United States in April 2005 In October 1976, as Prince Abdullah was being trained for greater responsibility in Riyadh, he was sent to the United States to meet with President Gerald Ford. He again traveled to the United States as Crown Prince in October 1987, meeting Vice President George H. W. Bush. In September 1998, Crown Prince Abdullah made a state visit to the United States to meet in Washington, D.C. with President Bill Clinton. In September 2000, he attended millennium celebrations at the United Nations in New York City. In April 2002, Crown Prince Abdullah made a state visit to the United States with President George W. Bush and he returned again in April 2005 with Bush. In April 2009, at a summit for world leaders U.S. President Barack Obama met him. In June 2009, Abdullah hosted President Obama in Saudi Arabia. In turn, Obama hosted Abdullah at the White House in the same month. He has shown great support for Obama's presidency. "Thank God for bringing Obama to the presidency," he said, adding that Obama's election created "great hope" in the Muslim world.[29] He stated, "We (the U.S. and Saudi Arabia) spilled blood together" in Kuwait and Iraq and Saudi Arabia valued this tremendously and friendship can be a difficult issue that requires work but the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have done it for 70 years over three generations. "Our disagreements don't cut to the bone," he stated.[30] He was the leading gift-giver to the U.S. president and his office in his first two years in office, his gifts totaling more than $300,000. A ruby and diamond jewelry set, given by the king and accepted by Michelle Obama on behalf of the United States, was worth $132,000.[31] However, according to federal law, gifts of such nature and value are accepted "on behalf of the United States" and are considered property of the U.S. government. He said that "it was a mistake" to limit access of Saudi citizens to the United States.[citation needed]
[edit] Iraq
The Bush Administration ignored advice from him and Saudi foreign minister Saud Al Faisal against invading Iraq.[16] However, other sources say that many Arab governments were only nominally opposed to the Iraq invasion because of popular hostility.[32] Before becoming king, Abdullah was thought to be completely against the U.S. invasion of Iraq; this, however, was not the case. Riyadh provided essential support to the United States during the war and proved that "necessity does lead to some accommodations from time to time." [33] The King expressed a complete lack of trust in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and held out little hope for improved Saudi-Iraqi relations as long as al-Maliki remains in office.[30] King Abdullah told an Iraqi official about Nouri al-Maliki, You and Iraq are in my heart, but that man is not. [34]
[edit] Iran
In April 2008, he told US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and US General David Petraeus to "cut off the head of the snake". Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir
recalled the King's frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran and to put an end to its nuclear weapons program." [35] Abdullah asserted that Iran is trying to set up Hezbollah-like organizations in African countries, observing that the Iranians don't think they are doing anything wrong and don't recognize their mistakes. He said the Iranians "launch missiles with the hope of putting fear in people and the world." The King described his conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki as "a heated exchange, frankly discussing Iran's interference in Arab affairs." When challenged by the King on Iranian meddling in Hamas affairs, Mottaki apparently protested that "these are Muslims." "No, Arabs" countered the King, "You as Persians have no business meddling in Arab matters." Abdullah said he would favor Rafsanjani in an Iranian election.[29][36] He told General Jones that Iranian internal turmoil presented an opportunity to weaken the regimewhich he encouragedbut he also urged that this be done covertly and stressed that public statements in support of the reformers were counterproductive. The King assessed that sanctions could help weaken the government, but only if they are strong and sustained.[12] In 2006, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei had sent his adviser Ali Akbar Velayati with a letter asking for Abdullah's agreement to establish a formal back channel for communication between the two leaders. Abdullah said he had agreed, and the channel was established with Velayati and Saud Al-Faisal as the points of contact. In the years since, the King noted, the channel had never been used.[36]
[edit] China
Since Abdullah's visit to Beijing in January 2006, the Saudi-Chinese relationship has focused predominantly on energy and trade. The king's visit was the first by a Saudi head of state to China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1990. [38][39] Bilateral trade with China has more than tripled, and China will soon be Saudi Arabia's largest importer. Saudi Arabia has also committed significant investments in China, including the $8 billion Fujian refinery. Based on the cablegate wikileaks report: The King has told the Chinese that it is willing to effectively trade a guaranteed oil supply in return for Chinese pressure on Iran not to develop nuclear weapons.[12]
multitude of Arab Gulf countries. The military personnel sent were part of the Peninsula Shield forces who are stationed in Saudi Arabia but not affiliated with one country alone.[19][41][42][43] According to leaked cables, he was more receptive than Crown Prince Sultan, to Yemeni President Saleh.[44] He has supported renewed diplomatic relations with the Syrian government and Bashar al-Assad. Assad attended the opening of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in October 2009. In August, 2011, he recalled the Saudi Ambassador from Damascus due to the political unrest in Syria. In December 2011 Abdullah called on leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council to strengthen their alliance into a united single entity as they confront threats to national security. I ask you today to move from a stage of cooperation to a stage of union in a single entity, Abdullah said at the opening session of a GCC meeting in Riyadh in comments aired on Saudi state television. No doubt, you all know we are targeted in our security and stability.[45]
[edit] Criticism
On February 16, 2003, Parade Magazine's David Wallechinsky rated King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah as the second worst dictator in the world.[46] Most of this criticism stems from the fact that most of his citizens live under a strict Wahhabist interpretation of Sharia law, which mandates the amputation of hands as a punishment for theft and floggings for crimes like drunkenness.[47] Execution by public beheading is common for murder, rape, drug trafficking, and witchcraft, and Abdullah's policies towards the rights of women have also been criticized. In a slight rebuff to accusations of human rights violations, Saudi inmates of Najran sent the King well-wishes from jail and wished him a speedy recovery.[48] Abdullah has also been criticized for his policies on religious freedom, which is reportedly nonexistent, and the Saudi government allegedly has arrested Shiite pilgrims on the Hajj.[47] On January 24, 2007, Human Rights Watch sent an open letter to King Abdullah asking him to cease religious persecution of the Ahmadi faith in Saudi Arabia. Two letters were sent in November 2006 and February 2007 asking him to remove the travel ban on critics of the Saudi government. [49] Human Rights Watch has not yet indicated whether they have received any response to these letters. On October 30, 2007, during a state visit to the United Kingdom, Abdullah was greeted by protesters accusing him of being a "murderer" and a "torturer". Concerns were raised in the UK about the treatment of women and homosexuals by the Saudi kingdom. Concerns were also raised over alleged bribes involving arms deals between Saudi Arabia and the UK.[50]
was appointed Crown Prince on October 27, 2011 after consultation with the Allegiance Council by Abdullah.[52] In November 2010, Prince Nayef chaired a cabinet meeting because of the deterioration of the King's health.[53] During the same month, King Abdullah transferred his duties as Commander of the Saudi National Guard to his son Prince Mutaib. Abdullah is credited with building up the once largely ceremonial unit into a modern 260,000-strong force that is a counterweight to the army. The Guard, which was Abdullah's original power base, protects the royal family. This was suggested as an apparent sign that the elderly monarch is beginning to lessen some of his duties.
[54]
[edit] Health
The king has curtailed his activities since June 2010 with no clear explanation. Diplomats said there has been uncertainty about the extent of his health problems since Abdullah canceled a visit to France. In a television appearance in which he was seen to use a cane, King Abdullah said he was in good health but had something "bothering" him. In November 2010, his back problems came to light in the media. He had an "accumulation of blood" around the spinal cord. He suffered from a herniated disc and was told to rest by doctors. Later, an expectedbut never officially announcedvisit by then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak became a phone call between the two leaders instead.[61] He was admitted to New YorkPresbyterian Hospital after a blood clot complicated a slipped disc and underwent successful back surgery. The surgeons probably removed the herniated disk and performed a lumbar fusion. [62][63][64] He had another successful surgery in which surgeons "stabilized a number of vertebras". [65] He left the hospital on December 21 and convalesced at the New York Plaza Hotel.[66] On January 22, he left the United States and went to Morocco.[67] He then returned to the Kingdom on 23 February 2011.[68][69]
Saudi authorities have been unusually open in going public with the king's condition, apparently in an effort to prevent any speculation and reassure allies of the key Mideast nation and oil power. Personal issues within the royal family are often kept under strict wraps.[70] To maintain the Kingdom's stability, Crown Prince Sultan returned from Morocco at the time.[71]
[edit] Philanthropy
King Abdullah paid for the separation surgery of a pair of Polish conjoined twins, which took place at the King Abd al-Aziz Medical City in Riyadh on January 3, 2005. He was given "honorary citizenship" by the Polish town of Janikowo, where the twins were born. On March 18, 2005, he was awarded the Order of the Smile (which he received during his visit to Poland in 2007). He has established two libraries, the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh and another in Casablanca, Morocco. He donated over $300,000 to furnish a New Orleans high school rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. He donated half a billion dollars to the United Nations World Food Programme in 2008 He has donated $50 million in cash and $10 million worth of relief materials for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China.[72] He donated $10 billion to the endowment fund of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in May 2008.[73] He established the King Abdullah University (Rawalakot) in Pakistan's Azad Jammu and Kashmir region after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. On February 5, 2011, he waived $156 million USD of housing loans for nearly 3,300 Saudis who had died.[74]
one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchs, King Abdullah has continued to pursue an agenda of moderate reform in the desert kingdom that contains 20% of the world's known oil reserves and Islam's 2 holiest sites. Recently granted women the right to vote in local elections and has consistently nudged the nation's educational system out from under clerical control. Yet al Saud is no liberal: He opposed the Arab Spring, spending more than $130 billion on social projects designed to quell any domestic pro-democracy movement. 2011 Lowlight: His younger brother, Crown Prince Sultan, died in October. Half-brother Prince Naif is the likely successor. Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1924 Has between 50 and 60 siblings Royal family was poor until they discovered oil in the 1940s