they ordinarily would be at this hour. the king solomon is 79 which is relatively young by royal standards. the path he chooses for the kingdom will be vitally important to the united states of course the influence that saudi arabia carries in the arab and muslim world as well as the economic cloud it holds as the world s leading oil exporter. a lot to talk about now. nic robertson is following for us. and on the phone, chief international correspondent, christiane amanpour joins us as well. christiane let s start with you. obviously, the king was quite old when he officially took the throne but he was still considered a reformer. though a reformer in a very conservative context of saudi arabia. reporter: well anderson that s right. king ab doula was king far short of time he was ruler of saudi arabia since 1995. sort of dates back to when his predecessor king stod developed a debilitating stroke. he s the man the united states and the rest of the worltd has dealt with for