Governor General heads to Saudi Arabia

Governor-General Peter Cosgrove will travel to Saudi Arabia to deliver Australia's condolences following the death of King Abdullah.

Governor-General Peter Cosgrove will deliver Australia's condolences to Saudi Arabia on the death of its king.

Sir Peter will travel to Saudi Arabia to convey the condolences of the Australian Government and people to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

King Abdullah died on Friday at the age of about 90 after being hospitalised with pneumonia.

World leaders have converged on Saudi Arabia to offer their condolences, with US President Barack Obama cutting short a trip to India to pay respects.

Others guests included French President Francois Hollande, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani, Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, Spain's King Felipe VI and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Prince Charles and Prime Minister David Cameron came from Britain, while Russia sent Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Sir Peter arrives in Saudi Arabia on Monday. That means he won't be attending Australia Day events in Canberra.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world