SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)-
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday named his powerful Interior Minister as heir to the throne and a son as second in line, under a shakeup that also saw the world’s longest-serving foreign minister replaced. This is the most significant repositioning of power among the royal family since King Salman assumed the throne in January. As crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, is the most likely successor to the king. The prince, who is also the interior minister, is known internationally as Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism tsar and was previously also deputy crown prince. Internal reshuffles in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, often move global oil prices.
Former head of oil giant Saudi Aramco Khalid al-Falih was appointed health minister in the shake-up.
Falih’s replacement as head of Aramco, which he led since January 2009 after a 30-year career in the company, was not immediately named.The post of Aramco chairman is held by oil minister Ali al-Naimi, himself a former chief executive of the company, who kept his ministerial position.Traders said they were closely observing who would become Aramco’s new chief executive and whether oil minister Naimi’s position would be impacted. The royal reshuffle came as the monarchy, a staunch ally of the US, faces a number of challenges, including creating millions of jobs for its mostly young population, low oil prices that have forced the country to dig into its financial reserves, and security threats both internally from terrorist groups and externally along its borders with Iraq and Yemen. Another critical change was the removal of the longtime foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, who was replaced with Adel al-Jubeir, the kingdom’s ambassador to the US. This major reshuffle in succession and repositioning shows that rifts among Royal family is increasing and widening among the Al-Saud clan for the throne.
pakistan.shafaqna.com