Khalid Ibn Abd al-Aziz (1913–1982)

King of Saudi Arabia 1975–82. The fourth son of King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the founder of the Saudi dynasty, he succeeded to the throne in 1975 when his half-brother, King Faisal, was assassinated. Khalid did not enjoy good health, and ruled for only seven years, during which time he effected moderate influence in Middle Eastern politics. He was succeeded by his half-brother Fahd.

A cautious and unassuming traditionalist leader, Khalid maintained close ties with the Bedouin people, who shared his interests in falconry and hunting. Suffering from a deteriorating heart condition, he relied on the more liberal and westernized Crown Prince Fahd to oversee day-to-day government. However, Khalid used his influence to bring a halt to the Lebanese civil war in 1975–76 and to persuade fellow members of the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC) to moderate their price increases. Saudi Arabia refused to support the Israel–Egypt Camp David peace accords of 1978 and from 1980 Khalid gave backing to Iraq in its war against Iran. This was motivated by fears of the potentially destabilizing influence of the fundamentalist Shiite Muslim revolution in Islam, which had led to Saudi Shiite demonstrations in Hasa 1979–80, and to a two-week protest by Wahabi extremists, in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, against the Saudi regime's alleged deviation from the true path of Islam.

At the time of Khalid's accession annual oil revenues had exceeded $22 billion in 1974, and Saudi Arabia had become the most influential country in the Arab world. Oil revenues were distributed to support generous welfare provision to Saudi citizens, who, in return, accepted autocratic rule by the al-Saud family. Khalid was appointed vice-president of the Council of Ministers in October 1962, and made the Saudi Crown Prince in 1965.