( CNN ) Throngs of mourners gathered in Mecca early Friday just hours after Saudi Arabia 's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud died . He was 90 . Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz was appointed as the new king , state television reported.​ . The announcement of Abdullah 's death comes several weeks after the state-run Saudi Press Agency said he was suffering from pneumonia and had been admitted to the hospital . Services will be held Friday afternoon at the Imam Turki Bin Abdullah Grand Mosque in Riyadh , and many world leaders are likely to pay their respects . Jordan 's King Abdullah cut short his visit to Davos , and is heading to Riyadh , according to a Jordanian government source . `` King Abdullah 's life spanned from before the birth of modern Saudi Arabia through its emergence as a critical force within the global economy and a leader among Arab and Islamic nations , '' U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement . He praised Abdullah 's role in sponsoring the Arab Peace Initiative , which attempts to solve the long-simmering conflict between Israel and Palestine . `` This is a sad day . The United States has lost a friend , and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , the Middle East , and the world has lost a revered leader , '' U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement . `` He was so proud of the Kingdom 's journey , a brave partner in fighting violent extremism who proved just as important as a proponent of peace . '' King Abdullah became king of the oil-rich nation , a key U.S. ally in the Middle East , in August 2005 . But he had been running Saudi Arabia since 1996 , after his half-brother King Fahd 's stroke . In the context of the kingdom 's conservative circles , Abdullah was seen as reformer and often came up against the more hard-line clerics . Since ascending to the throne , Abdullah took steps toward broader freedoms and invested some of the country 's vast oil wealth in large-scale education and infrastructure projects . `` He was really quite ( an ) extraordinary figure . He was probably the most progressive and liberal minded king of Saudi Arabia since King Faisal , which is a long time ago , in the early 1970s , '' CNN 's Fareed Zakaria said about Abdullah , who he described as `` much loved . '' `` I had the opportunity to meet with him once and what you got a sense of was somebody who really was determined to move his country forward , '' Zakaria said . `` It 's a conservative country and a conservative society -- and he kept emphasizing that to me -- but he was very clear in the direction he wanted to go . '' However , resistance from conservative factions hindered some of his efforts , leaving many women in particular disappointed by a lack of progress toward greater independence . Under Abdullah 's leadership , the country slowly squashed al Qaeda , capturing or killing its leaders in the kingdom , forcing the remnants underground and sidelining radical preachers . It also took a more prominent role in international affairs . Last year , it became the lead Arab nation in a U.S.-led coalition to eradicate the ultraradical ISIS group in Iraq and Syria . Analysts are predicting a smooth political transition despite the many challenges facing Saudi Arabia , including Iran , the rise of ISIS , the crisis in Yemen , and the drop in oil prices . Saudi Arabia has 16 % of the world 's known oil reserves , according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration . The country is widely seen as the leader of OPEC and has a large influence on energy prices and political stability in the Middle East . `` Remember , the last time the price of oil fell like this , the Soviet Union collapsed , '' said Zakaria . `` That said , the successor is a very competent man . '' He added : `` I do n't expect any major shift , but it marks a big change , and we 'll have to see what the new king is like . '' People we 've lost in 2015 . CNN 's Laura Smith-Spark and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report .
The funeral for King Abdullah will be on Friday . Analysts are predicting a smooth political transition . The next king will be Prince Salman bin Abdullah , state media reports .