Saudi state television announced on Friday that Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has died.

Abdullah had been in poor health in recent months. Reuters reports that the king had been admitted to a Riyadh hospital in December for medical tests. The royal court announced in January that Abdullah was suffering from pneumonia.

Abdullah officially came into power in 2005, after the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. However, he had been the de-facto ruler since 1995, when Fahd was incapacitated by a stroke

Despite the fact that there has been over 500 public executions in that country over the past 7 years and being found to be gay in Saudi Arabia will land you with public lashings and a jail term – if you’re lucky.   President Obama expressed his condolences for the late king, saying, “I always valued King Abdullah’s perspective and appreciated our genuine and warm friendship.” Joe Biden was to lead a presidential delegation to Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

Hopefully the next leader can help Saudi Arabia transition their society into the 17th century smoothly.

Source:  Huffington Post