Wednesday, Oct 27, 2010
RIYADH (AFP)--Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, whose health and long absences have sparked concerns in recent years, is in "very good health," his son said Wednesday.
"My father is in very good health and he is on his annual vacation," assistant defense minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan told reporters.
Prince Sultan, minister of defense and aviation since 1962 and crown prince since 2005, has been absent from the country for much of the past two years as he struggled with what is believed by diplomats and analysts to be cancer.
Sultan, who is also first deputy prime minister, left the country in November 2008 to undergo surgery in the U.S. and then to convalesce in Morocco, only returning in December 2009.
He left the country again for Agadir, Morocco at the end of August and has been shown in public since then only a few times.
Half-brother of King Abdullah, Sultan's official age is 79 but some experts on the royal family put it at 84-85.
Last year interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, Sultan's full brother, was promoted to second deputy prime minister in a move seen as covering the potential vacancy in the successor position should Sultan die.
Sultan's son Prince Khaled, who has been effective operational head of the ministry of defense during his father's absence, was speaking at a ceremony to announce the winners of the fourth annual Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz International Prize for Water.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
27-10-10 1258GMT
