DHAKA: Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni on Sunday left Dhaka for Saudi Arabia for attending the burial of Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, a hard-line conservative credited with pushing back al Qaeda.
An Emirates Airlines’ flight carrying the foreign minister left Hazrat Shahjalal International airport at about 8:40am Sunday.
She is expected to return home on July 19, said foreign ministry source.
Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who became heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia last year at the age of 78, died on Saturday.
He was also the head of the country’s interior ministry.
Nayef was recently abroad for medical treatment and had ‘died outside the kingdom’, said Al-Ekhbariyah Television, quoting a statement from the royal court.
Saturday’s statement from King Abdullah said the prince would be buried after sunset prayers in the Muslim holy city of Mecca on Sunday.
Nayef’s death means the 89-year-old King Abdullah must nominate a new heir for the second time in nine months.
Defence Minister Prince Salman, 76, seen as likely to continue King Abdullah’s cautious reforms, has long been viewed as the next most senior prince in the kingdom’s succession.
Nayef, King Abdullah and Salman are among the nearly 40 sons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, Abdulaziz ibn Saud, who established the kingdom in 1935.
BDST: 1059 HRS, JUN 17, 2012
Edited by: Maria Salam, Asst Output Editor
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