What to expect from the new Saudi king [View all]

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Saudi Arabia's new king has inherited the throne amid colossal challenges, say Saudi analysts. These include managing the country's relationship with the US, threats posed by the expanding Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a power vacuum in Yemen and the decline in oil prices and its impact on the Saudi population.

On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama will cut short his three-day state visit to India to spend a few hours in Riyadh to pay his respects to the royal family.

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"If there is one theme that King Salman has seemed to be stressing above all else in his first speech as king, it was continuity," Fahad Nazer, a former political analyst at the Saudi Arabian embassy in the US, told Al Jazeera.

"In the short term, I don't anticipate any major policy changes. But with oil prices having dropped by almost 60 percent since June and turmoil unfolding in Yemen to the south, and continuing violence and threats from the so-called Islamic State [ISIL] in the north, it would not be unreasonable for the new king and his advisers to reassess their policies regarding some of the crises across the region, especially Syria."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/01/expect-saudi-king-150127051939530.html