BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Saudi Arabia's King Fahd ibn Abdul-Aziz died Monday at the age of 82 and the ruling family announced that he was succeeded by his half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz.

    Defence Minister Prince Sultan succeeds Abdullah as crown prince.

    They are among the 42 sons of King Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud, who conquered his rivals and welded the disparate regions of the Arabian Peninsula into an eponymous state in 1932.

    Abdullah was born in Riyadh in 1924. He heads the National Guard, a once largely ceremonial unit he built into a modern 75,000-strong force as a counterweight to the army.

    Selected as crown prince in 1982, Abdullah had taken responsibility for the day-to-day running of the country after Fahd -- who had ruled since 1982 -- suffered a stroke in 1995.

    The new monarch is seen as the main force behind unprecedented reform in the past years, including the first communal elections and giving women new professional career choices.

    He is credited with a set of measures to attract foreign investments and create job opportunities.

    The 81-year-old Abdullah led a heavy crackdown on al-Qaida-linked militants following a series of terror attacks in May 2003. Enditem