PM Imran wishes Saudi monarch good health, swift recovery

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday wished Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz good health and swift recovery after the 84-year old monarch was admitted to a hospital in the kingdom. 

King Salman bin Abdul Aziz has been admitted to hospital in the capital Riyadh, suffering from inflammation of the gall bladder.

The premier, expressing his concern over the king's hospitalisation, said the government and the people of Pakistan pray for King Salman bin Abdul Aziz's long life. 

King Salman, the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, spent more than 2-1/2 years as the Saudi crown prince and deputy premier from June 2012 before becoming king. He also served as governor of the Riyadh region for more than 50 years.

The defacto ruler and next in line to the throne is the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, widely known by his initials MBS, who has launched reforms to transform the kingdom’s economy and end its “addiction” to oil.

The 34-year-old prince, who is popular among young Saudis, has won praise at home for easing social restrictions in the Muslim kingdom, giving more rights to women and pledging to diversify the economy.

To the king’s supporters, this boldness at home and abroad was a welcome change after decades of caution, stagnation and dithering.