Imprensa abafa: ascende ao trono saudita um idoso senil que sofre de demência e alzheimer.
Salman bin Abdulaziz will ascend to the throne of Saudi Arabia after a single year as its Crown Prince. But his reportedly conservative outlook has put him at odds with his moderate predecessor, King Abdullah - and concerns have been raised about his own medical state. Over the last year, the 79-year-old had increasingly taken on the duties of the former ruler as his half-brother's own health deteriorated. With reports that King Salman is battling with both Alzheimer's and dementia, his former task as ruler-by-proxy could be taken by another member of the sprawling royal family. He has suffered at least one stroke which left him with limited movement in his left arm. His own successor was announced as Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz February 2013, to ensure the royal family's continuity. The 71-year-old, who was educated at the Royal Air Force College in UK, has been serving as the second Deputy Prime Minister and Director General of the Saudi Intelligence Agency.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Adbul Aziz died early Friday, setting the stage for a transition of power at a critical moment as the key U.S. ally in the Middle East struggles with falling oil prices and rising Islamist violence. The monarch, believed to be 90, was succeeded by his brother, Crown Prince Salman, according to state television. That put the region’s most important Sunni power and America’s closest Arab ally in the hands of a 79-year-old who is reportedly in poor health and suffering from dementia. Salman’s rise to the throne postpones the question of when the Saudi monarchy will turn to the next generation of princes to run the country of 28 million people at a crucial moment in a region mired in crisis. While observers in Riyadh widely predicted a smooth transition to Salman, his poor health means his rule could be relatively short. Should there be a power struggle to succeed him, it could leave a vacuum in the Middle East at a critical time. Saudi Arabia is a key member of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State extremist group and a major ally of the government that just fell in neighboring Yemen. “Despite so many people saying it will be a smooth transition, there’s every reason to believe that Saudi Arabia is heading for rough times,” Simon Henderson, an expert on the Saudi succession at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said in an interview Thursday.
