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King Fahd, whose actions to strengthen the oil kingdom's ties with the United States brought down the wrath of Islamic militants, was taken to a Riyadh hospital on Friday apparently suffering from pneumonia.
An Arab official said the Saudi government had put the kingdom -- the world's largest oil exporter -- on a state of alert and cancelled all military leaves as a precaution. Other officials confirmed the alert among security forces and said leaves were being discouraged and upcoming government meetings with foreign dignitaries would be cancelled.
But the interior ministry denied that any emergency had been declared.
"This is absolutely not true," ministry spokesman Mansour Al Turki said. "There's no cancelling of leaves and no state of emergency or anything."
The government's official news agency said only that Fahd, who is believed to be 82, had been admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh for unspecified medical tests.
On Saturday, Saudi television station Al-Ekhbariya reported that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah assured Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a phone call that Fahd's health was good and that the medical examinations were going normally.