Government | Saturday 24 January, 2015 12:05 am |

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has pledged to continue the current policies of the government, to ensure stability and unity in the country.
In a speech following the death of King Abdullah on Friday, King Salman also urged the nation’s citizens to pledge their allegiance to new Crown Prince Muqrin and to the new deputy crown prince and second deputy premier, Muhammad bin Naif.

“We will continue by the grace of Allah and His strength to cling to the right path followed by the state since its inception by the founder, the late King Abdul Aziz and his sons after him. We will never deviate from it because our constitution is the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, peace be upon him,” King Salman said.
The king commended the service of King Abdullah to the nation, the wider Muslim community and the Arab world. He also asked Allah to help him with this “great trust” of the monarchy, to guide him onto the right path and avoid “falsehood.”

Quoting from the Qur’an to highlight the transience of life, he said that everyone on earth would perish and have to face their Creator. With a heart “filled with grief and sadness,” he extended condolences to the “loyal Saudi people and the Arab and Islamic ummah” on the death of King Abdullah.
He said King Abdullah had spent his entire life trying to follow the precepts of God, “strengthening his religion, serving his nation and people, and defending the causes of the Arab and Islamic” world. “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return,” the king said.

King Salman also urged Arabs and Muslims to seek solidarity in the face of the challenges currently confronting them. He said this would be the policy of Saudi Arabia as it moves to tackle obstacles facing it.
“We will continue in this country, which Allah has honored by choosing it as the platform for His message and the Qibla (direction in which Muslims pray), to boost unity and defend our nation’s causes.” He said the Kingdom would be guided by the teachings of Islam, a religion of “peace, mercy and moderation.”
“I ask Allah to guide me to serve our dear people, realize their hopes, preserve our country and nation’s security and stability, and to protect it from all evil. He is able to do that, there is no strength except with Allah,” the king said.