U.S. Vice President Joe Biden expressed condolences on Friday to the people of Saudi Arabia on the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud. Biden will lead a U.S. delegation to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to pay respects to the king's family, according to a White House statement. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan postponed Friday's planned trip to Somalia to attend King Abdullah's funeral. The Somali presidency announced it would also send a high-level delegation to Riyadh. "The death of King Abdullah is a great loss to every Arab and Muslim country, so we are all mourning his death," the presidency spokesman said. In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed condolences to Saudi Arabia's ruling family on the death of King Abdullah, praising the late king as a wise leader. The Egyptian government declared it would send a delegation to Saudi Arabia, led by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehlib and including its ministers of defence, health, petroleum and electricity. The monarchies of the Arab Gulf mourned the Saudi leader, saying that the Arab world had lost an "outstanding" statesman, according to statements from their national news agencies. Different periods of mourning were announced on Friday in a number of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain.
