World leaders
flock to honour late king
RIYADH: World leaders converged on Saudi Arabia on Saturday to offer condolences following the death of King Abdullah, with US President Barack Obama cutting short a trip to India to pay his respects.
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 officials and served a traditional tiny cup of Arabic coffee.
Since Abdullah ascended 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.
Mr Obama “called King Salman bin Abdulaziz from Air Force One today to personally express his sympathies” ahead of his trip to Riyadh on Tuesday to meet new King Salman, the White House said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also made a rare visit to the regional rival to offer condolences, television pictures showed.
Both Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko were among the well-wishers, even as pro-Kremlin rebels announced a major new offensive on a strategic government-held Ukrainian port.
Others guests included French President Francois Hollande, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, Indonesian VicePresident Jusuf Kalla, European royalty and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Prince Charles and Prime Minister David Cameron came from Britain.
They gathered at the Al-Yamamah Palace, the royal court, to line up and greet King Salman, who took the throne after the death of his half-brother on Friday, and his heir Crown Prince Moqren.
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 begun, except for billboards expressing condolences for Abdullah’s death.