Saudi Arabia’s King Salman admitted to hospital

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was admitted to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh on Monday.

A statement from the Royal Court said that he will undergo medical tests due to cholecystitis – an inflammation of the gallbladder, reported Saudi Press Agency.

Royal Court: Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques Enters King Faisal Specialist Hospital to Receive Medical Tests due to Cholecystitis.https://t.co/eU4uqxMTO9#SPAGOV pic.twitter.com/MJ9lDflIkV

— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) July 20, 2020

King Salman has ruled Saudi Arabia since 2015. Prior to that, he was the governor of Riyadh for a period of 48 years from 1963 to 2011, after which he was also appointed as the Minister of Defense.

King Salman, the oldest living son of Ibn Saud, was appointed as Crown Prince of the kingdom in 2012 after the death of his brother Nayef bin Abdulaziz.

He ascended to the throne following the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah, who ruled the kingdom from 2005 to 2015.

The current Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, was appointed as such in 2017, thereby making him the current heir to the throne of the kingdom.

In a related development this week, the ruler of another GCC country – Kuwait’s 91-year-old Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, underwent a “successful surgery” on Sunday morning.

Read: Kuwait’s 91-year-old Emir undergoes ‘successful surgery’

While Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah remains in hospital, Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah will temporarily assume some of the constitutional functions and duties of the emir.