Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz has been admitted to hospital for medical examinations, the royal palace said in a statement carried by the official news agency SPA.
King Fahd has been Saudi Arabia’s monarch since 1982, but has been ill for many years.
“The custodian of the two holy mosques, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, on Friday evening entered King Faisal hospital in Riyadh … for medical examinations,” the palace said in its statement.
“We ask God to keep and care for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and grant him health and wellbeing,” it added.
The official news agency didn’t provide specific details about the king’s health condition, but an unidentified source said that he was suffering from a fever and “had water in his lungs”.
King Fahd, believed to be aged 84, has been Saudi Arabia’s monarch since 1982.
His health started to deteriorate in November 29, 1995 when he suffered a heart stroke, and Crown Prince Abdullah has performed most of the duties of the Saudi head of state since then.
Despite his poor health condition, King Fahd remained an important figure and the ultimate arbiter of Saudi policy.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer and has turned from an underdeveloped desert kingdom into one of the wealthiest nations in the region.
Rumors of a sudden decline in King Fahd’s health, circulated by mobile phone, sent the value of Saudi stocks tumbling by 5% on Wednesday.
