Unsupported report that King Abdullah has died

In an odd story that is not backed up by any other media report, the Islam Times says (a) that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died of a heart attack on Wednsday and (b) that he had the heart attack immediately after a “heated debate” on the phone with President Obama about whether Mubarak should resign. Abdullah, of course, did not want him to resign. I pass it on only because the fact that a newspaper would report such a fantastical story is itself notable.

Islam Times: Saudi Arabia’s 86-year-old King Abdullah was discharged from a New York City hospital in good health after going through two back operations in December 2010. The king delegated the management of the affairs of the world’s largest oil supplier to his half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, during his absence.

King Abdullah talked with Obama about the situation in Egypt over the phone yesterday. Obama and the King got into a heated debate about their opinions of what Hosni Mubarak should do. After the phone call sources stated that King Abdullah was furious and then suffered a sudden heart attack.

Doctors ran to his rescue but were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead, but his death was not reported due to the sensative conditions that exist in the region. The Saudi Arabian government will reject this claim; but the ball is in their court to prove that he is alive.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 11, 2011 01:04 PM | Send