Saudia Arabia's King Abdullah reportedly dead at age 90

Los Angeles Times | January 22, 2015 | 3:51 PM

Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, who led Saudi Arabia through years of regional tumult and internal strife, has died. He was 90.
King Abdullah died Friday, the Associated Press reported, citing Saudi state television. No other details were given, but he had reportedly undergone a series of back operations in the United States in the last few years.
Heading one of the world’s most strategically delicate nations at a time when the Middle East convulsed with upheaval and violence, King Abdullah attempted to steer Saudi Arabia in an often ill-defined middle direction among conflicting pressures: its relationship with America and domestic demand for independence; the corrupting influence of massive oil wealth amid the enforced austerity of the kingdom’s strict Wahhabism; and the homegrown social ferment of hard-line religious zealots and eager reformers.
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