Saudi king has back surgery Associated Press Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 6:15 a.m., Saturday, November 17, 2012 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A hospital official says Saudi King Abdullah has undergone successful back surgery in the fourth such operation in nearly two years on the 87-year-old monarch. The king had two back surgeries in New York — one in 2010 for a slipped disk and a blood clot pressing on nerves in his back and a second to stabilize vertebrae in 2011.