The King of World's largest oil exporter country, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died on Friday morning. According to the reports, the Saudi King was suffering with pneumonia from the past few days and was breathing with the help of tube. He was admitted in hospital on December 31st and his condition got worse each day passing. Abdullah's half-brother and Crown Prince Salman has been named as the new King of Saudi Arabia by the Royal court.

King Abdullah was born in Riyadh in 1924, one of the dozens of sons of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. Abdullah strongly opposed the pro-democracy wave which could affect his monarchy rule in the Gulf nation. He was crowned as King in 2005 and took to the development of Saudi Arabia to another level. The King strongly believed in education and established several universities in the country which offer scholarship to the Saudi students. In the 2009, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was established where men and women share classroom and study together inside the campus.

The Saudi King brought some reforms  especially for women that had an major impact on the country. He gave women seats on the Shura Council, an unelected body that advises the king and government. He promised women would be able to vote and run in 2015 elections for municipal councils, the only elections held in the country. In 2012, the King allowed two Saudi women to compete in the 2012 London Olympics.

The King Abdullah was survived by a dozen of wives and 30 children.

- TVR