Saudi embassy dismisses rumours about king's health

The Saudi embassy in Morocco, where King Abdullah has been convalescing after surgery in the United States, yesterday strongly denied rumours that the octogenarian monarch had died.
"I can assure that the health of King Abdullah is excellent and gives no cause for any concern," a senior embassy official told AFP.
An informed source told AFP: "These are baseless rumours. The king is alive and well, and he has held several audiences since his telephone call with Obama."
The website www.islamtimes.org said in a article yesterday that King Abdullah had died of a heart attack the previous day after a heated telephone debate with US President Barack Obama on the situation in Egypt.