by Chinwe Okafor
King Salman bin Abdulaziz has been announced as the crowned king following his brother’s demise. Here are 10 things you need to know about him.
1. Salman bin Abdulaziz will ascend to the throne of Saudi Arabia after a single year as its Crown Prince.
2. 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.
3. 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. 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.
4. His own successor was announced as Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz February 2013, to ensure the royal family’s continuity.
5. 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.
6. King Salman has 13 children from his three wives. With his first wife Sultana bint Turki Al Sudairi – who passed away at the age of 71 in July 2011 – he fathered Prince Fahd, Prince Ahmed, Prince Sultan, Prince Abdulaziz, Prince Faisal and Princess Hussa.
7. The King’s second son Prince Sultan bin Salman was the first Arab of royal blood – and the first Muslim – to fly into outer space. He flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discover in June 1985 and has occupied the post of Deputy Minister of Oil since 1995.
8. King Salman served as Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister from 2011. He was head of the country’s military when it joined the US and other Arab countries in carrying out airstrikes in Syria in 2014 against the Islamic State.
9. Prince Salman, along with the United States, collected funds to support Afghan Mujahideen fighters – who took on the Kabul government and eventually the Soviet forces in the country.
10. At a relatively young age, King Salman became the governor of Riyadh in 1963 and oversaw its transformation from an isolated deser town into a modern metropolis – bustling with skyscrapers and Western food chains – over the next 48 years.
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