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No word on change

in Saudi govt,

says US

WASHINGTON: The United States has received no information about a change of government in Saudi Arabia, where King Fahd has been reported to be on the point of abdication, the State Department said on Tuesday.

"King Fahd is there and we maintain a relationship with his government, and with his ministers, and have received no word that there's going to be any change in the status quo," spokesman Glyn Davies said.

The U.S. magazine Time reported in its latest issue that the king, who suffered a stroke in November, is afflicted with dementia and may soon leave the country permanently, delegating power to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah.

On Saudi state television on Tuesday, Fahd smiled, signed papers and chatted to ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting. A five-minute report on the Monday night meeting in the Red Sea port city Jeddah showed the 74-year-old monarch seated at a large circular cabinet table with his ministers.-Reuter