Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean to represent Singapore at Saudi King Abdullah's mourning

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will represent Singapore at the official mourning of Saudi Arabia's late King Abdullah on Sunday. -- PHOTO: ST FILE
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will represent Singapore at the official mourning of Saudi Arabia's late King Abdullah on Sunday. -- PHOTO: ST FILE

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will represent Singapore at the official mourning of Saudi Arabia's late King Abdullah on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.

DPM Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, will be accompanied by Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, as well as MFA officials, the ministry said.

King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who became Saudi monarch in 2005, died on Friday at the age of about 90 after being hospitalised for pneumonia. He was succeeded by his 79-year-old half-brother, King Salman.

The late King was regarded as a cautious reformer who led the Gulf kingdom through a turbulent decade in a region shaken by the Arab Spring uprisings and Islamic extremism wrought by Al-Qaeda.

World leaders due to fly to the kingdom this weekend to offer their condolences and meet King Salman include Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito, Reuters reported.

US President Barack Obama will also visit Riyadh on Tuesday, cutting short a visit to India to do so, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement on Saturday.

seokhwai@sph.com.sg

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