"I only hope that, with your cooperation and leadership, a new world will emerge out of the rubble of the World Trade Center: a world that is blessed by the virtues of freedom, peace, prosperity and harmony. "

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud became the king of Saudi Arabia on August 1, 2005. He was formerly known as Crown Prince Abdullah.

Abdullah was born in 1924 to Ibn Saud's eighth wife who had been married to the 10th Rashidi amir. He was educated at the Princes' School from religious authorities and intellectuals. He has been married over thirty times, and has around forty children. He is Muslim, and follows the Salafi understanding of Islam, which is strictly based upon the first teachings of Muslims.

He was elected commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard in 1963, second deputy prime minister in 1975 and first deputy prime minister in 1982.

In 2002, Abdullah supported the Arab Peace Initiative, which many considered an attempt to make peace with Israel. The plan asked Israel to cede most of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority, and to recognize its sovereignty. In exchange, Abdullah offered the following concessions: ending of the Arab-Israeli conflict, a peace treaty with Israel, recognition to the state of Israel, and an establishment of "normal relations" between Arab and Israel. The plan, however, was dropped after criticism from Arab and Israel.

On the second anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Abdullah wrote a letter to President George W. Bush, which ended with: "God Almighty, in His wisdom, tests the faithful by allowing such calamities to happen. But He, in His mercy, also provides us with the will and determination, generated by faith, to enable us to transform such tragedies into great achievements, and crises that seem debilitating are transformed into opportunities for the advancement of humanity. I only hope that, with your cooperation and leadership, a new world will emerge out of the rubble of the World Trade Center: a world that is blessed by the virtues of freedom, peace, prosperity and harmony."

In January 2005, Abdullah heard news of a pair of Polish conjoined twins. He offered to pay for the surgery of the 14-month-old girls; they were successfully separated after a 15-hour surgery. He has established two libraries: the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh and another in Casablanca, Morocco.