♪ saudi arabia's king abdullah has died at the age of 90. saudi arabia's new king solomon promises continuity and unity and solidarity in the muslim world. ♪ hello and warm welcome from al jazeera and i'm in doha and also coming up, tie land's parliament votes to impeach the prime minister for her role in a controversial rice subsidy program. and turning a new page in u.s. cuba relations, historic talks turn to normalizing ties between the two countries.

♪ world leaders started to arrive in saudi arabia for king abdullah's funeral, a 90-year-old ruler died in hospital after being admitted last month with a case of pneumonia and half brother 79-year-old solomon is the new king and has already spoken on saudi arabia television promising to continue the policies of the predecessor and rob matheson reports. >> translator: the world learns of the death of one of the few remaining absolute monarchs. >> reporter: the pass of power for abdullah was shaped from the birth by conservism. >> translator: the problems of the world caused by people rejecting the principles of justice, terrorism and crime are the enemies of god and every

religion and civilization. he was taught religion and english from scholars and spent long periods of his childhood living in the desert and as crown prince he took control of the country in 1995 when the king had a stroke. ten years later abdullah became king. the world hopes the conservative saudi arabia kingdom would open up. >> during his reign he has inspired a greater openness in two particular areas, for women and in freedom of expression. there is an outburst of criticism, social criticism and also of government policy in saudi arabia that has happened with the, let's say tolerance to some degree of the saudi government. >> reporter: he inherited a kingdom in an oil boom and terrorism and unemployment and accusations of corruption. he restructured the company and

joined the world trade organization and encouraged more private enterprise but that failed to address the prospects of jobless young saudi and granted women the right to vote and run for office and issued id cards and allowed for the first time to do business without involving a male guardian. but domestic concerns gave way to global ones when the united states was attacked on september the 11th 2001. 15 of the 19 hijackers were saudi citizens and took on al-qaeda when they began a group of bombings and record on human rights however has remained controversial. in resent years activists who demanded change through petitions ended up in jail and political parties and public demonstrations were ban. king abdullah's next challenge after all -- al-qaeda was iran

and what the monarch saw as increasing led influence of the shia led government and supported change in libya and luke warm to tunisia and yemen and he may have revealed saudi fears of i ran revolution next door and confronted fears of upraising in a different way and spend $130 billion on housing, jobs and other social benefits. his critics believe he could have done more given saudi arabia's vast oil wealth to help the population. >> people were convinced that a new law for the judiciary would actually make trials open and fair, that did not happen. people were convinced that there would be religious dialog between sunni, saudi and shia saudi and since 2009 we have seen relations deteriorate often

with the government playing the sectarian card against the shia. >> reporter: a small amount of criticism of government allowed in the press but a blogger faces being flogged after being convicted in the village, his latest punishment has been delayed and despite the king's efforts of reform the conservism is unlikely to change. >> reporter: live pictures from riyadh where leaders around the world are arriving to attend the funeral of king abdullah and this is the scene there right now and expecting it to be a fairly brief ceremony of course the late king died last night and in line with islamic tradition he is going to be buried straight away in a funeral in riyadh and expecting people around the world to be flying in to attend the funeral including from the world economic form in dabos where many world leaders are right

now. u.s. president barack obama has paid his tribute as well to one of his allies in the region. he said as a leader he was always candid and courage of convictions and one of the conviction was his stead fast belief in the importance of the u.s. saudi arabia for peace and security in the middle east and become and former head of the arab league praised king abdullah for his work. >> translator: king abdullah had a father figure in the muslim world and had a lot of stability and the cooperation and promotion of cooperation among arab countries. his role in establishing peace between and putting an end to the arab israeli conflict and the palestinian/israeli feud was

instrumental. he would record the initiative of 2002. i believe that the relations between saudi arabia and the egypt in particular will continue to be one of the cornerstones of the regional situation in the middle east because it is a policy that is well built since the first years of the kingdom. i believe that king solomon will continue along the same lines. >> reporter: we are joined in jerusalem with latest reaction with the king abdullah's death and you hear reaction to the death of the king is pouring in from around the world, what are you hearing from the government there? >> well as you know saudi

arabia and israel don't really have official or diplomatic relations, however, we did hear a statement put out by the president of israel rivlin which he said that he was saddened to hear about the passing of king abdullah. he described him as an example of grounded considerate and responsible leadership. he said that as a guardian of the holy places of islam king abdullah acted as a moderator respecting the sensitivity and the sancitity of jerusalem and sought a vision of prosperity for the region and said his wise policies contributed greatly to our region and to the stability of the middle east. now to a lesser degree of importance we also heard some statements from the former president of israel paris who is now there attending the world economic forum where he described the death of king abdullah as a huge loss for the region and for peace. he said that he was a wise king

who had the bravery to put forth a plan for peace and he is hinting at the arab peace initiative which the late king abdullah proposed the first time in 2002 as a way to end the palestinian/israeli conflict once and for all where he offered israel a very rare and unique offer to end the conflict by offering a normalization of ties with arab and islamic countries in exchange for israel withdrawing from palestinian territories and jerusalem and they did not respond to the offer but seeing acknowledgment of the israeli government of the huge efforts that the late king abdullah tried to make in trying to end the palestinian/israeli conflict. >> reporter: thanks very much bringing us all the latest reaction there from jerusalem to this. and let's talk a little bit about the path of royal

succession in saudi arabia it has been clear so far but if you just look at part of the family tree it shows just how complex it could become. abdullah was the latest in a line of successors with abdulaziz and reigned until 1953 and now it passed his half brother solomon who is 79 years old and in poor health and makes the new brother the new crown prince and ten years the man's junior and after that the picture becomes more complicated with hundreds of princes potentially in line for the throne although the new king has just appointed his nephew as deputy crown prince. nevertheless questions remain over the stability of saudi arabia during the transition of power, those questions and concerns always there. and solomon moved to address some concerns in a televised address and plans to stay on the course his father had set for

the nation. >> translator: we are going to continue with the approach of father king abdullah abdulaziz and built the state and followed by son and we will continue with the karan and the prophet mohamed into our legislation. >> reporter: joining me now is my colleague sammy and sammy listening to king solomon there and talking about continuity and continuing with the late king's policies. >> absolutely and only to be expected, when you look into the background of the king now of what sort of post which he served in the past everything from the mayor of riyadh and served in the saudi some of the military institutions and even became minister of defense and somebody from that background fully understands and appreciates the importance of stability, continuity saudi arabia's security concerns are looking at his age group as well i would say that you

wouldn't have high expectations at this point for very extreme radical change or reform. i think continue thou-- continuity as king is going to be a big thing. >> reporter: i guess this is something they will continue to emphasize given the challenges that saudi arabia is facing in the region right now. >> yes, indeed. and i think the challenges are not only international and regional they are also domestic and yes saudi arabia faces challenges because fires are burning around this in iraq in syria, the situation with isil some of the members of is i l are saudi youth to go fight and one day no doubt want to return to saudi arabia. we have seen isil attacks on the border with saudi arabia. we have seen calls from some of the isil members for saudis to rise up against the saudi government and they are some concerns and iran and yemen and

real domestic challenges. if you look at some of the demographics the working age population in saudi arabia the group 15-64 years of age has increased from 52% in 1980 to 66% in 2010 so a lot of the population are people who need jobs urban dwellers increasing from 65% in 1980 to 82% in 2010. the system of education, a lot of saudis received education, a lot of them have gone abroad and received education. so all of that brings new expectations, new demands on the saudi government and these are just some domestic and international challenges and let's not forget as well saudi arabia is often seen as a rich country and it is in many respects but economic challenges are a real fact of life in many parts of saudi arabia. the challenge of clothing your

children and putting food on the table is a real one that saudi citizens do face and are challenges which have to be dealt with. >> domestic problems as well as the condition the country is facing in the region and sammy thank you so much for giving us some context around this. well there is much more still to come for you this half hour. hundreds of protesters rally against houthi rebels in yemen after the president steps down more on that in a moment. ♪

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welcome back you are watching al jazeera and let's take you through the top stories, saudi arabia king abdullah died and has ruled the country for nine years and 90-year-old suffering pneumonia. and the new king is solomon abdulaz i z and broadcast on tv he promised to maintain the same approach as his predecessors world leaders started to arrive in saudi arabia for the funeral and the ceremony is due to start in the next hour. so here is what dennis ross a former middle east envoy had to say about king abdullah's legacy. >> he adopted a very tough position vis-a-vis and proceeded over a tough policy over iran and seen iran in engaging in a policy and threat of

encirclement and trying to dominate the region so he had strong views. he expressed them clearly. he has sought i think in a very gradual way open up the saudi political system and i think we have greater inclusiveness, obviously there is a long way to go but he will be a figure at a time when there is great uncertainty and a great deal of turmoil within the region. he will be a figure who will be missed. he created kind of authority. i think that will also be missed. and there will be a lot of i think a lot of expectations about exactly what his departure from saudi arabia is going to mean. >> reporter: and saudi arabia's ties with the united states have largely been based on oil. and also the trade and military equipment. and patty has more on that. >> reporter: the past two u.s. presidents have shown what critics say was a little too

much deference to saudi's king abdullah and george w bush did this president obama was seen as bow bow i ng. >> president obama was soft and almost sub serviant to the world. >> reporter: a longstanding feeling held by many americans that u.s. foreign policy is too dependent on saudi arabia mostly because of oil. [applause] the american public grew increasingly aware and concerned about the relationship after the september 11th attacks. 15 of the 19 hijackers were saudi, a former u.s. counter terrorism official says there was a reason to worry. until saudi faced its own al-qaeda attacks in 2003. >> no doubt that saudi thinking changed at that point from one that had been shall we say a policy of feeling comfortable of just exporting the problem to

one of a problem that they felt they had to tackle themselves. >> reporter: the arab spring tested the relationship. the saudi king urged president obama to continue to back the egyptian president mubarak, obama eventually dropped his support but stayed mostly quiet as saudi troops rolled go bahrain to quash those protests. as the spotlight faded the two leaders cemented the relationship with the largest u.s. arms to a foreign country, agreeing to sell $60 billion worth of fighter jets attack helicopters and ammunition to the kingdom. but the second term of barack obama's presidency led to more complaints to saudi arabia when he decided to reach secret negotiations with i ran and no one told officials and when the president shifted and decided to ask congress for permission to strike syria the saudis were again caught off guard and that led the president to visit the kingdom a second time to try and

shore up support with a visibly ailing king abdullah and built over the decades for the mutual need for oil and defense and facing an uncertain future more so now. >> for how on king abdullah's funeral let's go to riyadh and talk to me first about reaction there in the country to king abdullah's death. >> yes, the news was like at 1:00 a.m. local time here. people there was rumor just hours before that time and people just spend the night waiting for the news through the news agency the formal news from the news agency saudi press and after that they spend the whole night until early morning just following the news and reaction to the death of king

abdullah abdulaziz and following the news of solomon, the new king solomon being the king of the saudi and saudi arabia. later on king solomon just announced to name his nephew prince mohamed believed to be the deputy crown prince of saudi arabia also and his son mohamed to be the defense minister of this country. today just he will receive people who will congratulations to him on becoming the head of the state of saudi arabia with other princes and the crown prince and also the deputy crown

prince prince, prince mohamed, the minister of interior of saudi arabia. arabia. there is no really formal celebration or to have it in saudi arabia. that wouldn't be normal days in saudi arabia. the stock market would run and school will be open and all the bureaus will be open just after the weekend, so there is no really and normal posing of the country during these days. >> reporter: unlikely to be any great change in the way people are going about their business thanks very much it was good to get your insight into reaction there and get a sense of the mood in saudi arabia abdullah in riyadh. well now across the border

houthi rebels in yemen calling for the formation of military and committees to run the country after the resignation of the president. gerald tan brings us the details on that now. >> reporter: a dawn attack in yemen capitol sanaa and houthi rebels take stock of damage and leaders targeted in bomb attacks at a mosque and nearby home. across the country people have been reacting to what they see as a houthi take over some in celebration, others in anger. in the city here they demonstrated a besieged president of hadi resigned. >> translator: we say to president hadi he must not run away from taking responsibility and must complete a peaceful transition of power and we the people stand with him. >> reporter: the decision was made under pressure and he has been held up at his home since the houthis stormed the presidential palace and

surrounded parliament earlier this week. in september the houthis signed a u.n. brokered deal after taking control of large parts of sanaa but demanding a bigger say in government. >> translator: i want to assert again that the crisis can't be resolved other than what you agreed upon through the outcomes of the ndc and the peace and national partnership agreement. i call on you all to have wisdom and national spirit and to use the dialog and political action to resolve any disagreement. >> reporter: with the political uncertainty comes security concerns. separatists in the south have renewed calls for a split in the north and some fighting in the port city of aden and supporters of the president there the only line of security against al-qaeda are saying they will no longer take orders from the capitol, some activists view this as the unraveleling of hard gained reforms. >> after the provision of the malitia of houthi and the counter revolution they

destroyed all the news of all peaceful revolution and the most important thing they destroyed is the peaceful meetings. >> reporter: backed by i ran and in control of the capitol the houthis are also accused of colluding with the former president with forces showing who now has power in yemen. gerald tan, al jazeera. >> editor in chief of the yemen post and joins me live from the capitol sanaa on skype and good to have you with us and let me start asking you about the houthi calls for a military and presidential committee to be formed in order to run the country, are the houthis really capable of doing that? >> it's not only them right now that are demanding the military council, there are other factions as well today and they are announcing that and it's a sign of failure. there is no other option and

looking at option b even though it has not been official he resigned and not accepted by parliament et cetera and houthis searching for option bcd and protests in the streets for the first time in the thousands against them and this is something that has not happened in months right now especially since they took off sanaa last september so the next couple days are expected to be very tense because right now the people are starting to stand against them and in the past they would be oppressed and remain quiet but now it is different, right now it's a lawless country where they all feel there is a hope standing up against them and those that are with them again are all going to protest today in different areas. >> thanks very much it was good to get your thoughts on that appreciate it editor and chief of yemen post in the capitol

sanaa. now the number of people killed in violence in ukraine has exceeded 5,000 since last april. that is an estimate by the u.n. human rights office and says that number includes at least 260 people who have been killed in the past nine days. thailand's parliament voted to impeach the prime minister for her role in over seeing a government rice subsidy program. impeachment vote was 190 in favor, 18 against with 3 abstentions and ban from politicians for five years and the attorney general's office announced separate plans to indict her on charges for negligence in the rice scheme. indonesia preparing for excuses despite objections from the community and called to reconsider the decision to execute two men for drug trafficking and members of barley nine at not clear if they are next on the list as the indonesia government are review

reviewing executions last week and five were executed by firing squad on sunday. international medical organization says one of its hospitals in south sudan has been bomb and attack happened in the village in the south quarter of sudan last week and hospital operated by doctors without borders has stopped treating patients saying it's not safe because of increasing attacks in the area and the hospital was previously bombed in june last year. first ebola vaccine shipment due to arrive in liberia and the first batch by glaxo smith kline is in the state and the british company says the shipment of 300 vials of vaccine the first to arrive in the ebola effected countries and the latest on that story and everything we have been covering head to our website and the address is al jazeera.com. there you will find the latest

comment analysis and video demand and the latest on the death of king abdullah in saudi arabia. we are expecting his funeral to take place some time in the next hour and we will stay with that and bring you more as leaders around the world go to riyadh to pay tribute to him. ♪ boxes in and fight against terrorism. yemen is teetering on the brink of security, economic, and political collapse. it's inside story. >> hello, i am ray suarez. a collapsing economy, and it's