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File photo of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah arriving at Heathrow Airport in west London
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz arrives at Heathrow Airport in west London in this October 29, 2007 file photo. Reuters
AFP/Riyadh
Saudi King Abdullah, hospitalised earlier this week, is suffering from pneumonia and breathing with the aid of a tube, but is in stable condition, the royal court said on Friday.
The long-ailing king, who is believed to be around 90 years old, was admitted to the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh on Wednesday for checks.
Examination "revealed pneumonia, which required the provisional insertion of a tube on Friday evening," a statement said.
"Thanks be to God, that step was crowned with stability and success," the statement added, without saying how long the king would need to remain in hospital.
The Saudi stock market dropped by about five percent at one point following the royal court's announcement that the king had been hospitalised, before clawing back some of its losses to finish Wednesday day 1.8 percent lower.
The market was closed for the weekend on Friday.
The king's latest hospitalisation comes as Saudi Arabia holds a high-profile position in the US-led fight against the Islamic State group, which has seized swathes of neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
The king underwent two operations in October 2011 and November 2012 to correct "ligament slackening" in the upper back.
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