RIYADH: World leaders converged on Saudi Arabia on Saturday (Jan 24) to offer condolences following the death of King Abdullah, with US President Barack Obama cutting short a trip to India to pay respects.

Obama will travel to Riyadh on Tuesday to meet new King Salman, the White House said.

Since Abdullah took the throne in 2005, Saudi Arabia has been a prime Arab ally of Washington, and last year joined the coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

One after another, foreign aircraft landed at a Riyadh military base where leaders from Africa, Europe and Asia descended a red-carpeted ramp to be welcomed by Saudi officials and served a traditional tiny cup of Arabic coffee.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a rare visit to the regional rival to offer condolences, television pictures showed.

Others guests included French President Francois Hollande, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani, Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, Spain's King Felipe VI and Jordan's King Abdullah II. Prince Charles and Prime Minister David Cameron came from Britain, while Russia sent Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. They gathered at the Al-Yamamah Palace, the royal court, to line up and greet King Salman and his heir Crown Prince Moqren, television pictures showed.

Outside, a helicopter patrolled overhead and four lanes of cars - everything from luxury Bentleys to everyday models - inched towards the palace grounds carrying Saudi well-wishers past guards with pistols strapped to their thighs.

Away from the palace and nearby roadblocks, shops were open and life continued with almost no indication that a new era had begun, except for billboards expressing condolences for Abdullah's death.

The government declared Sunday a holiday so citizens throughout the country could offer condolences and pledge symbolic allegiance to their new monarch.

Abdullah died on Friday at the age of about 90 after being hospitalised with pneumonia. He was a cautious reformer who led the Gulf state through a turbulent decade in a region shaken by the Arab Spring uprisings and Islamic extremism.

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World leaders in Saudi after king's death