[Provisional Translation]

 I was extremely saddened to hear the news of the demise of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz AL SAUD of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 The late king played an extremely important role over many years by contributing widely to peace and stability not only in the Islamic world, but also in international society as a whole. Moreover, he strengthened bonds of friendship and cooperation with many countries and in particular deepened the international dialogue among religions and civilizations.

 In terms of relations with Japan, the late King Abdullah paid an official visit to Japan as the Crown Prince in 1998, and went on to contribute greatly to the development and expansion of relations between Japan and Saudi Arabia. This was not only in the fields of politics and economics, but also in cultural and people-to-people exchanges, such as by greatly increasing the number of Saudi students in Japan on scholarships.

 The demise of King Abdullah, who was an outstanding leader, is a great loss for Japan also. On behalf of the Government of Japan and the people of Japan, I would like to express my deepest condolences to all the members of the Saudi royal family, to the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.