Saudi Arabia's King Fahd died yesterday and Crown Prince Abdullah was swiftly pronounced monarch in a smooth succession that promised continuity in the world's largest oil exporter.

A Saudi source said the kingdom's oil policy would not change. Diplomats said they expected no major shifts in foreign policy under King Abdullah, who is at least 80 and has run day-to-day affairs since a stroke debilitated Fahd in 1995.

"With deep sorrow and pain, the royal court... mourns the death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd due to illness," Information Minister Iyad bin Amin Madani announced.

Fahd, aged about 83, had been in hospital since May 27, when he was admitted with acute pneumonia. A medical source said he died at around 6 am local time (0300 GMT).

"The royal family members have acknowledged Crown Prince Abdullah as sovereign of the country ... after which the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and ruler of Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz chose Prince Sultan as crown prince and the family members acknowledged that," the statement said.

Prince Sultan, like King Abdullah, was born in 1924.

US crude oil jumped to US$61 a barrel after Fahd's death but the president of oil cartel OPEC said he expected the price hike to be temporary. The Saudi source said Riyadh would adhere to its long-standing oil policy aimed at keeping global markets well supplied to stabilize prices.

The Saudi ambassador to London, Prince Turki al-Faisal, added: "I cannot imagine there will be any particular change in that (foreign) policy undertaken by the late King Fahd." Asked whether the same applied to oil policy, he said: "Absolutely."

A Saudi official said Fahd's funeral would take place today to give time for foreign dignitaries to arrive.

Condolences flooded in from fellow Gulf and Arab countries as well as French President Jacques Chirac, who said Fahd had "in troubled times... guaranteed the integrity of his country and defended regional stability."

In Cairo, an Arab League official said an Arab summit in Egypt, set for tomorrow, would be postponed for a few days.

Abdullah, the fifth son of Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdul-Aziz to ascend the throne, is a cautious reformer who has overseen modest economic and political liberalization.

Fahd ascended the throne of one of the world's richest nations in June 1982, at the height of Saudi Arabia's petrodollar boom and ruled for 23 years, through three regional wars and, in his final years, al-Qaida militancy.

(Chinadaily.com.cn via agencies August 2, 2005)