King Fahd stable as Saudis pray for his health

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia was in a stable condition today, medical officials said, a day after the monarch was taken to hospital for unspecified medical tests.

Wherever groups of people gathered in the capital Riyadh, they discussed the king’s health.

Newspapers carried it as front-page news, some pointing out that no state of emergency had been declared despite reports the day before.

“I’m asking God to protect King Fahd for us and his family,” said businessman Ebrahim Al-Khudair, 39. “The stability of the kingdom comes with his name.”

Life was normal in the capital, with offices, schools and shops open and no extra security presence visible. A previously scheduled meeting of Gulf Co-operation Counci heads of state was going ahead as planned, officials said.

The official Saudi Press Agency said Fahd, who is believed to be 82, was admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh for medical tests. One official said doctors believed the monarch had pneumonia.

Turki Abdelaziz Al-Washmi, 27, was concerned about the seriousness of the king’s condition, noting that previous hospitalisations had mentioned specific ailments.

“King Fahd is a father figure for all of us. I’m praying that he gets well soon. I pray that God gives him health,” Al-Washmi said.

Saudi television station Al-Ekhbariya reported that Abdullah assured Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a phone call late Friday that Fahd’s health was good and that the medical examinations were going normally.

Fahd, king since 1982, suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995. His half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, has been Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler since then, and is expected to become king should Fahd die.

Fahd’s hospitalisation triggered reports that an emergency had been declared in the kingdom. Officials said an alert had been declared and that military leaves had been cancelled or at least discouraged. However, this was firmly denied by the Interior Ministry.

Reports of Fahd’s deteriorating health had been blamed for sending the Saudi stock market tumbling 5% earlier in the week.

Saudi Arabia’s strategic importance as the holder of the world’s largest oil reserves and the fact that it is home to Islam’s two holiest shrines means even a stable succession could have an impact on world markets and have widespread political fallout.

With the portly, goateed Fahd only a figurehead in the last decade, it has been Abdullah who has overseen the kingdom’s crackdown on militants after followers of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden launched a wave of attacks.

Abdullah tried to rebuild relations with the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks; 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi.

Fahd, who rose to the throne in 1982, suffered short-term memory loss and an inability to concentrate for long stretches after his stroke in 1995. Visitors who saw him after the stroke reported the king was barely aware of what was going on around him and could not recognise those who shook his hand.

Fahd is the son of the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King Abdul-Aziz.