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King Abdullah الملك عبد الله King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Reign August 1, 2005 – Present Full name Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud non-titular name Born August 1924 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Predecessor King Fahad bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud Consort 4 wives[1] Royal House House of Saud Father Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud Mother Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim

Children Khaled bin Abdullah Mutaib bin Abdullah Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Faisal bin Abdullah Sultan bin Abdullah Turki bin Abdullah Mish'al bin Abdullah Fahd bin Abdullah Saud bin Abdullah Mansur bin Abdullah Fahda bint Abdullah Nayifa bint Abdullah Aliya bint Abdullah Adela bint Abdullah Nuf bint Abdullah Sita bint Abdullah Saifa bint Abdullah Abeer bint Abdullah Sara bint Abdullah Hayfa bint Abdullah Areeb bint Adullah Madawy binti Abdullah

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney walks with newly crowned King Abdullah, former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell during a retreat at King Abdullah's Farm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, August 2005.

Abdullah with United States Vice President Dick Cheney

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud receives The Order of the Smile (Order Uśmiechu), from Chancellor of International Chapter of the Order of the Smile Marek Michalak in the presence of Olga and Daria, notable Polish conjoined twin girls, Warsaw May 26, 2007.

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (Arabic: عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, born August 1924^[2]) is the King of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded to the throne on August 1, 2005, following the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. As crown prince, he had previously acted as de facto regent and thus ruler of Saudi Arabia since 1995 when King Fahd was incapacitated by a major stroke. He was formally enthroned on August 3, 2005, but he inherited the title of King immediately after the death of his half-brother.[2] One of his sons, Prince Mutaib, serves as a deputy commander in the Saudi National Guard.

Abdullah also serves as Prime Minister 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^[3] son (out of 37 sons) of King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, to ascend to the throne.

His wealth is estimated at $23 billion.^[4]

King Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud was born in Riyadh to Ibn Saud's eighth wife, Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim of the Abde section of the Shammar tribe. She had earlier been married to the 10th Rashidi Emir, Saud, who was killed in 1920.

He was given the position of Commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard in August 1962, the position of Second Deputy Prime Minister in March 1975 and the position of First Deputy Prime Minister in June 1982. Abdullah has had over thirty wives during his lifetime, among them Tardi Al-Jorba, Hessa Al Shaalan, Aida, Anud, Malika, and al-Jauhara. He has at least 15 sons and 20 daughters.

King Abdullah is a devout Muslim and follows the Salafi understanding of Islam which is a strict interpretation of the religion based on the teachings of the first three generations of Muslims.

Since May 12, 2003, Saudi Arabia has faced several serious terrorist attacks, 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 groups have been linked to the attacks, including the Saudi branches of Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, 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 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^[5] and public beheadings. King Abdullah has vowed to fight terrorist ideologies within the country.

On the second anniversary of the September 11 attack on the United States, the then-prince wrote a letter to 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." [3]

Abdullah paid for the surgery of a pair of Polish conjoined twins which took place at the King Abd al-Aziz Medical City in Riyadh on January 03, 2005. He had heard about the twins from a doctor who found the information about the twins on the Internet. 14-month-old Daria and Olga Kołacz were successfully separated after the surgery which took 15 hours.

Abdullah has established two libraries, one in Riyadh (the King Abdulaziz Library) and another in Casablanca, Morocco.

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. [4]. Human Rights Watch has not said they have received any response to these letters.

During a state visit to the UK on October 30, 2007, Abdullah was greeted by protesters accusing him of being a 'murderer' and a 'torturer'. [5]. Concerns were raised in the UK about the treatment of women and homosexuals by the Saudi kingdom, and also alleged bribes involved in arms deals between Saudi Arabia and the UK. [6]

King Abdullah with George W. Bush at the Prairie Chapel Ranch

In October 1976, as Abdullah was being groomed for greater responsibility in Riyadh, he was sent to the United States to meet with then-President Gerald Ford. He again traveled to the United States in October 1987, meeting then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. In September 1998, Abdullah made a state visit to the United States to meet in Washington, D.C. with then-President Bill Clinton. He returned again in September 2000 to attend millennium celebrations at the United Nations in New York City.

• "The real blame should be directed at us, the leaders of the Arab nation". King Abdullah criticizes his fellow Middle East leaders for not resolving the Arab conflict. http://www.mideastweb.org/arabsummit2007.htm^{[citation needed]}

• List of national leaders
• King Abdullah Economic City
• Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

• Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia - Bio of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz
• Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation
• Equestrian Club of Riyadh
• Saudi king details succession law

v • d • e Kings of Saudi Arabia
Ibn Saud • Saud • Faisal • Khalid • Fahd • Abdullah

Arab-Israeli conflict

v • d • e

v • d • e Participants in the Arab-Israeli conflict
Governments	Egypt •  Iraq •  Israel •  Jordan •  Lebanon •  Palestinian National Authority •  Saudi Arabia •  Syria •  Yemen
Active organizations	Amal • al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades •  Arab League • Arab Liberation Front •  Ba'ath Party •  Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine • Fatah • Guardians of the Cedars •  Hamas •  Hezbollah • Jaish al-Islam • Kataeb • Lebanese Forces • Palestinian Islamic Jihad • Palestine Liberation Front • Palestine Liberation Organisation • Palestinian Popular Struggle Front •  Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine • Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command • Popular Resistance Committees • as-Saiqa
Former	South Lebanon Army • Arab Higher Committee • Arab Liberation Army • Holy War Army • Irgun (Etzel) • Lehi • Black Hand • Black September •  Mandate of Palestine
Other Governments	Iran •  Norway •  Turkey •  United Kingdom •  United States
Other Organizations	European Union • United Nations
Former States	Soviet Union •  United Arab Republic

v • d • e Arab-Israeli conflict individual participants

Lester B. Pearson • Abd al-Hakim Amer • Hosni Mubarak • Gamal Abdel Nasser • Anwar Sadat • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Ali Khamenei • Ruhollah Khomeini • Faisal I • Saddam Hussein • Ehud Barak • Menachem Begin • David Ben-Gurion • Moshe Dayan • Levi Eshkol • Golda Meir • Benjamin Netanyahu • Ehud Olmert • Shimon Peres • Yitzhak Rabin • Yitzhak Shamir • Ariel Sharon • Chaim Weizmann • King Abdullah I • King Abdullah II • King Hussein • Emile Lahoud • Hassan Nasrallah • Fouad Siniora • Mona Juul • Johan Jørgen Holst • Terje Rød-Larsen • Mahmoud Abbas • Yasser Arafat • Marwan Barghouti • George Habash • Ismail Haniya • Amin al-Husayni • Khaled Mashal • Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi • Ahmed Shukeiri • Ahmed Yassin • King Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) • King Abdullah • King Fahd • King Faisal • Folke Bernadotte • Hafez al-Assad • Bashar al-Assad • Shukri al-Quwatli • Salah Jadid • Ernest Bevin • Arthur Balfour • Tony Blair • Richard Crossman • Madeleine Albright • Ralph Bunche • George H. W. Bush • George W. Bush • Jimmy Carter • Bill Clinton • Henry Kissinger • Ronald Reagan • Condoleezza Rice • Dennis Ross • Harry Truman • Cyrus R. Vance

v • d • e Arab-Israeli conflict engagements

1920 Palestine riots • 1921 Jaffa riots • 1929 Palestine riots • 1936–1939 Arab revolt • 1947 Jerusalem riots • 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandate Palestine • 1948 Arab-Israeli War • 1950s terrorism against Israel • 1953 Qibya massacre • 1956 Suez Crisis • 1967 Six-Day War • 1968–1970 War of Attrition • 1972 Munich Olympics massacre • 1972 Operation Wrath of God • 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon • 1973 Yom Kippur War • 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War • 1976 Operation Entebbe • 1978 South Lebanon conflict • 1981 Operation Opera • 1982 Lebanon War • 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict • 1985 Operation Wooden Leg • 1987–1990 First Intifada • 1991 Gulf War • 1993 Operation Accountability • 1993-present Palestinian suicide attacks • 1996 Operation Grapes of Wrath • 2000–present Al-Aqsa Intifada • 2002 Operation Defensive Shield • 2003 Ain es Saheb airstrike • 2004 Operation Rainbow • 2004 Operation Days of Penitence • 2006 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict • 2006 Lebanon War • 2007 2007 Israel-Gaza conflict • Operation Orchard

v • d • e Diplomacy and Peace proposals in the Arab-Israeli conflict

Damascus Protocol • Hussein-McMahon Correspondence • Sykes-Picot Agreement • 1917 Balfour Declaration • Declaration to the Seven • Anglo-French Declaration • 1919 Faisal-Weizmann Agreement • 1920 San Remo conference • 1922 Churchill White Paper • 1939 White Paper • 1947 UN Partition Plan • 1948 Establishment of Israel • 1948 UNGA Resolution 194 • 1949 Armistice Agreements • 1964 Palestinian National Covenant • 1967 Khartoum Resolution • 1967 UNSC Resolution 242 • 1973 UNSC Resolution 338 • 1973 UNSC Resolution 339 • 1974 UNSC Resolution 350 • 1978 UNSC Resolution 425 • 1978 Camp David Accords • 1979 UNSC Resolution 446 • 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty • 1979 UNSC Resolution 452 • 1980 UNSC Resolution 478 • 1981 UNSC Resolution 497 • 1983 Israel-Lebanon agreement • 1991 Madrid Conference • 1993 Oslo Accords • 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace • 1998 Wye River Memorandum • 2000 Camp David Summit • 2001 Taba Summit • 2001 UNSC Resolution 1373 • 2002 Beirut Summit and Peace Initiative • 2002 Road map for peace • 2004 UNSC Resolution 1559 • 2004 UNSC Resolution 1566 • 2005 UNSC Resolution 1583 • 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh Summit • 2005 Israel's unilateral disengagement plan • 2006 Palestinian Prisoners' Document • 2006 UNSC Resolution 1701 • 2006 Franco-Italian-Spanish Peace Plan