TOKYO –
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has postponed his visit to Japan that was scheduled to begin on Monday due to King Salman’s health issue, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
The Saudi leader had been scheduled to meet Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during trip scheduled for May 20-23.
“Saudi Arabia informed the Japanese government that due to the health condition of King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed’s visit to Japan, which had been scheduled to begin on the 20th, had to be postponed,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference in Tokyo.
Saudi Arabia’s state news agency on Sunday reported that 88-year-old King Salman will undergo treatment for a lung inflammation.
Citing the royal court, the state news agency said the 88-year-old king would be treated with antibiotics until the inflammation subsides.
Earlier on Sunday, King Salman underwent medical tests at the royal clinics at Al Salam Palace due to “high temperature and joint pain,” the Saudi state news agency said.
The king was last admitted to hospital in April for a routine check-up, state TV reported then.
King Salman, the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, became ruler of the world’s top oil exporter in 2015 after spending more than two and a half years as the crown prince and deputy premier.
His illness struck just as the crown prince met US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in the kingdom for talks on a strategic agreement between Washington and Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Japan did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the crown prince’s cancelled trip.
