Since Crown Prince Sultan could not deal with demanding duties due to his extended absences for treatment and King Abdullah was about to travel to Doha to attend the League of Arab States Summit before going to London for the G20 summit, it was imperative to leave a senior official in charge, which added burdens to the leukemia-suffering 76-year-old Nayef. Therefore, on 27 March 2009 Prince Nayef was made second deputy prime minister. His appointment caused a public split in the royal family. Prince Talal asked the King to clarify that the appointment did not necessarily mean that Nayef would become crown prince.