Saudi King's Heart Attack Rumor Tracked

The Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told the press that 86 yr old King Abdullah is in excellent health and looking forward to returning home after a brief stop in Morocco following last December's back surgery in New York.

Why did we need to know that the King was in excellent health and doing twice as much therapy as prescribed?   Aside from the obvious problem of losing the guy who supplies so much oil to America, it seems that the web was sparking with a rumor that the King had a heart attack and died following a heated conversation about Egypt and President Mubarak with President Obama on Thursday morning. Here are a few links to site that posted the story/rumor (and in some cases, a follow-up correction)

https://www.israelated.net/node/100394 - Is King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Dead?

https://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2011/02/is-king-abdullah-dead.html - IS KING ABDULLAH DEAD?

https://www.debka.com/article/20650/  - Deep US-Saudi rift over Egypt: Abdullah stands by Mubarak, turns to Tehran

And the de-bunkers

https://mystateline.com/fulltext-news/?nxd_id=228186 - Rumor Of Saudi King's Death Untrue

https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110210/wl_mideast_afp/saudipoliticsroyalshealthmorocco_20110210145730

It certainly would not be a stretch to hear that a world leader in his mid-80s had dropped dead of a heart attack, but that kind of news is impossible to keep quiet and would no doubt resonate around the globe in minutes.