Saudi Arabia’s new king has announced a major cabinet reshuffle that puts in place a new generation to succeed him.
King Salman has appointed his nephew, the powerful Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as crown prince.
The king’s son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been made deputy crown prince and the foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, has been replaced.
King Salman, 78, acceded to the throne in January after the death of his half-brother Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.
Abdullah, who was thought to be aged about 90, had been on the throne since 2005 and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader for the 10 years before that.
The BBC’s Kim Ghattas, who was recently in Riyadh, says this latest reshuffle shows King Salman is firmly turning the page on the era of his predecessor.
He has pushed aside allies of the late monarch such as his half-brother Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, who until Wednesday was crown prince.
The rise of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, believed to be in his early 30s, means that for the first time a grandson of the kingdom’s founder, King Abdul Aziz, is in line to rule.
The appointment of Prince bin Nayef is likely to be welcomed by the United States, with whom he has a close relationship.
The kingdom’s veteran security chief, he is known for his strong stance against Islamist militants and narrowly survived an assassination attempt by al-Qaeda in 2009.
The new deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has enjoyed a meteoric rise within the Saudi leadership.
He was appointed defence minister in January, and in the last month has been overseeing the Saudi-led operation in Yemen.
Prince Saud al-Faisal, the world’s longest-serving foreign minister, was replaced by the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir, who is not a member of the royal family.
King Salman has employed a more assertive, muscular foreign policy to push back against Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, our correspondent says. These new appointments reinforce that trend, she notes.
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Source: BBC