Saudi king well after surgery in U.S.: royal court

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (L) greets Prince Salman (R) before departing for the United States, at Riyadh airport November 22, 2010.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's elderly King Abdullah had a successful second operation in New York on Friday, the royal court said in a statement released by the kingdom's state news agency.

Earlier on Friday, the court said the king, believed to be aged about 86 or 87, would have surgery to stabilize vertebrae in his spinal column.

"The operation, which took place at exactly six in the morning New York time, was successful, and a second phase of physiotherapy will begin after that (the operation)," the statement issued through the Saudi Press Agency said.

The royal court did not elaborate on when the physiotherapy stage would start, or when the ruler would return to his Gulf Arab kingdom.

The second operation was the completion of earlier surgery in New York last week after a blood clot complicated a slipped disc, a statement released earlier on Friday said.

A Saudi official on the sidelines of a Gulf security conference in Bahrain confirmed the success of the second operation.

"He is well. He had an operation today and I hope he soon gets better," Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief, told reporters.

Asked when the king would return home, Prince Turki replied: "I have no idea. You will have to wait for what comes out (officially)."

A frail Crown Prince Sultan, who has health problems of his own, has returned from abroad to govern the world's largest oil exporter while Abdullah is away for an unspecified period.

King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005, is the sixth leader of Saudi Arabia, whose political stability is of regional and global concern. It controls more than a fifth of the world's crude oil reserves, is a vital U.S. ally in the region, a major holder of dollar assets and home to the biggest Arab bourse.

SUCCESSION CONCERNS

The kingdom is keen to show its allies in Washington and elsewhere there will be no power vacuum as health problems beset its octogenarian rulers, but the king's recent treatment has aroused concerns over whether a reformist or a conservative would succeed to the throne.

With both Abdullah and Sultan in their 80s, the next in line would be conservative Interior Minister Prince Nayef, at a comparatively youthful 76. Nayef would need the approval of Saudi Arabia's "Allegiance Council" to become king.

Abdullah appointed his half-brother Nayef second deputy prime minister in 2009 in a move that analysts said would secure the leadership in the event of serious health problems afflicting the king and crown prince and which would also improve Nayef's chances of one day becoming king.

Diplomats in Riyadh say Western governments worried about the fate of social and economic reforms promoted by Abdullah have reservations about the ascent of Nayef, seen as a religious and social traditionalist.

As home to Islam's holiest sites, as well as the birthplace of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabia is key to global efforts to fight Islamic militancy.

Washington wants Riyadh to continue Abdullah's social and economic reforms which were seen as essential after a group composed of mainly Saudis carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Diplomats say there has been uncertainty about Abdullah's health since he canceled a visit to France in July.

(Additional reporting by William Maclean in Manama; Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)