King Abdullah also serves as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia and Commander of the Saudi National Guard. He is chairman of the Supreme Economic Council, president of the High Council for Petroleum and Minerals, president of the King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue, chairman of the Council of Civil Service and head of the Military Service Council. Abdullah is the fifth son (out of 37 sons) of King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, to ascend to the throne. At age 86, he is currently the world's oldest-serving monarch.
Crown Prince
In August, the Crown Prince saw on television an Israeli soldier pushing an elderly Palestinian woman. When she fell, she grabbed the soldier's leg and he stepped on her. The Crown Prince, in a rage, called Bandar. "This is it. Those bastards!" he yelled, according to an account that Bandar has given associates. "Even women-they're stepping all over them." He ordered Bandar, who was in Aspen, to return to Washington and to deliver a message: Starting today, you go your way and we will go our way. From then on, the Saudis would look out for their own national interests.
The Crown Prince, he said, was deeply disturbed by the "continued Israeli actions, horrible actions, as if Jewish blood is not equal to Palestinian"-in particular, the practice of punishing the families of people suspected of committing terrorist acts. "We wonder how the American people would have accepted the President of the United States ordering all the McVeigh family houses to be destroyed or burning their farms," he said, referring to the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
Interfaith dialogue
In March 2008 King Abdullah called for a “brotherly and sincere dialogue between believers from all religions.”
King Abdullah held a conference at Mecca in June 2008 to urge Muslim leaders to speak with one voice with Jewish and Christian leaders. He discussed and took approval of the Saudi Islamic scholars and the world's renowned Islamic scholars to hold the interfaith dialogue.
In June 2008, Saudi Arabia and Spain agreed to hold the interfaith dialogue in Spain. The historic conference finally took place in Madrid in July 2008 where religious leaders of different faiths participated.
King Abdullah had never earlier made any overtures for dialogue with eastern religious leaders such as Hindus and Buddhists. The Mecca conference discussed an important paper on the dialogue with the followers of monotheistic religions highlighting the monotheistic religions of southeast Asia including Sikhism in the third axis of the fourth meeting titled "With Whom We Talk" presented by Sheikh Badrul Hasan Al Qasimi. The session was chaired by HE Dr. Ezz Eddin Ibrahim, Adviser to the President of the United Arab Emirates for Culture.
The session also discussed a paper presented on coordination among Islamic institutions on Dialogue by Dr. Abdullah bin Omar Nassif, Secretary General of the World Islamic Council for Preaching and Relief and a paper on dialogue with divine messages, presented by Professor Mohammad Sammak - Secretary General of the Islamic Spiritual Summit in Lebanon. The session ended by Sheikh Al Fadel Alzafzaaf, Under Secretary-Azhar and Chairman of the Committee for dialogue among religions formerly, Cairo discussing the futuristics of dialogue in the light of repeated abuse to Islam.
In November 2007 King Abdullah visited Pope Benedict XVI in the Apostolic Palace. He is the first Saudi monarch to visit the leader of Catholicism.
King Abdullah and his government were responsible for the 'Peace of Culture' which took place on November 2008 at the United Nations General Assembly. It brought together Muslim and non-Muslim nations to eradicate the preconception of Islam and Terrorism. It brought together leaders including former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, Israeli President Shimon Peres, former U.S. President George W. Bush and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
War on Terror
King Abdullah with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 11, 2007.
Since May 12, 2003, Saudi Arabia has faced several serious attacks from organizations that Saudi Arabia officially has declared terrorists, targeting primarily Western expatriates and also Saudi security forces. The attacks have included car and truck bombings as well as raids by gunmen against civilians.
Several international groups, such as al-Qaeda, have been linked to the attacks, with the common motivation being resentment of the perceived pro-Western stance of the King and royal family, and their encouragement of Westerners residing in Saudi Arabia. The militants believe that the Islamic prophet Muhammad commanded that non-Muslims should be expelled from the Arabian peninsula. The militants are especially outraged at the presence of the U.S. military in Saudi Arabia, which they see as sanctioned by the royal family.
The response of King Abdullah's administration to the insurgency has been a series of crackdowns including raids by security forces, arrests, torture and public beheadings. King Abdullah has vowed to fight terrorist ideologies within the country.
On the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States, the then-prince wrote a letter to then U.S. President George W. Bush, which ended with:
"God Almighty, in His wisdom, tests the faithful by allowing such calamities to happen. But He, in His mercy, also provides us with the will and determination, generated by faith, to enable us to transform such tragedies into great achievements, and crises that seem debilitating are transformed into opportunities for the advancement of humanity. I only hope that, with your cooperation and leadership, a new world will emerge out of the rubble of the World Trade Center: a world that is blessed by the virtues of freedom, peace, prosperity and harmony."
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. March 18, 2005 was awarded Order of the Smile (which he earned during his visit in Poland in 2007).
He has established two libraries, the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh and another in Casablanca, Morocco.
He has donated $50 million in cash and $10 million worth of relief materials for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China.
He donated $10 billion to the endowment fund of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in May 2008.
He established the King Abdullah University (Rawalakot) in the Pakistani State Azad Jammu & Kashmir after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
Criticism
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. Human Rights Watch has not yet indicated whether they have received any response to these letters.
During a state visit to the United Kingdom on October 30, 2007, 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.
Meetings with United States presidents
Abdullah with George W. Bush
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 greeted him with a bow. In June 2009, Abdullah hosted President Obama in Saudi Arabia. In turn, Obama hosted Abdullah at the White House on June 29.
Future successors to the Royal Throne
King Abdullah is 86 this year, but his half brother and designated successor, Crown Prince Sultan, is 82. The apparent next in line is Sultan's full brother, Prince Nayef, 77, the minister of interior.
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