ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s King Salaman has offered his condolences to the people of Pakistan on the passing of former President Mamnoon Hussain, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Thursday evening.

Hussain passed away in Karachi on Wednesday, after a prolonged illness.

He had served as Pakistan’s 12th president from 2013 to 2018, replacing Asif Ali Zardari, and was succeeded by the current president, Dr. Arif Alvi.

King Salman offered his condolences in a cable message to Dr. Alvi.

“We learned about the death of the former president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain. May God have mercy on him,” the king said, as quoted by SPA. “We send to your Excellency, the family of the deceased and the brotherly people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan our deepest condolences and sincere sympathy, asking God Almighty to bless him with his mercy.”

Hussain was born in 1940 in Agra, India. His family migrated to Pakistan at the time of partition in 1947.

He graduated from the prestigious Institute of Business Administration in Karachi and became a textile businessman. He entered politics by joining the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the late 1960s.