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Saudi Arabia’s ‘reformer’ King Abdullah dies

Posted at 4:24 PM, Jan 22, 2015
and last updated 2015-01-22 18:24:54-05

By CNN Staff

(CNN) — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud has died, according to an announcement on Saudi state TV. He was 90.

The announcement of his death comes nearly several weeks after the state-run Saudi Press Agency said Abdullah was suffering from pneumonia and had been admitted to the hospital.

King Abdullah became the oil-rich nation’s sixth king in August 2005.

In the context of the kingdom’s conservative circles, King Abdullah was seen as a reformer and often came up against more hard-line clerics.

CNN’s Laura Smith-Spark and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.

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