RIYADH, May 27: Saudi Arabia’s ailing King Fahd was hospitalised on Friday for medical examinations, the royal palace said in a statement carried by official news agency SPA.

“The custodian of the two holy mosques, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, on Friday evening entered King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh ... for medical examinations,” the palace said, without giving details. Rumours of a sudden decline in his health, circulated by mobile phone, sent Saudi stocks plummeting almost five per cent on Wednesday.

The king, believed to be aged 84, rose to the throne in 1982. He has been in ailing health since 1995, since when Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has been the country’s de facto ruler.—-AFP