Flags at half-mast for ‘tyrant’

The flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge was at half-mast today. Source: News Corp Australia

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama called him courageous. A prominent UK paper has slammed him as a "tyrant".

But Australia has joined the UK in paying tribute to this controversial leader today on our most iconic landmarks.

Flags at government buildings and official landmarks — including the Sydney Opera House and Parliament House in Canberra — flew at half-mast today as a tribute to the late Saudi Arabian King.

A Transport for NSW spokesman confirmed to news.com.au this afternoon that the flags were lowered "as a mark of respect" to Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, who died on Friday.

RELATED: Saudi King dies at 90

He died at age 90 after being admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia and a lung infection.

King Abdullah, who ascended to the throne in 2005, was one of the 45 sons of the first monarch of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, and amassed a US$18billion fortune from the country's rich oil reserves.

Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser is among those who have criticised Australia's decision mark King Abdullah's death in this way.

In response to a tweet from NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon, Mr Fraser tweeted that the half-mast tribute "should not have happened".

The Transport spokesman said flag notices were usually issued by the Department of Premier and Cabinet's protocol office and that the flags were due to be returned to their normal position about 3pm today.

Similar tributes have been made on official landmarks in the UK.

The UK Government has been criticised by MPs for flying the Union Jack at half-mast at government buildings, including Whitehall and Buckingham Palace.

UK paper The Independent ran with the headline, "Britain mourns a tyrant".

Elsewhere, UKIP MP Douglas Carwell slammed the move as an "extraordinary misjudgement" due to Saudi Arabia's human rights record, according to The Guardian.

A picture from October 20, 1987, in Washington shows then Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia listening to then US president George Bush. Picture: AFP/Chris Wilkins Source: AFP

However, Mr Obama has released an official statement paying tribute to King Abdullah as a "candid" leader who had the "courage of his convictions".

King Abdullah is considered a relatively liberal leader in the context of the conservative kingdom, but it is still a country in which women have been forbidden from voting, driving and being in public unaccompanied.

Recently, flags on at sites such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Anzac Bridge and Central railway station have also been flown at half-mast to commemorate the victims of the Martin Place siege, the death of cricketer Phillip Hughes in November and Remembrance Day.

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