Saudi Arabia's King Salman has named his powerful
interior minister as heir in a major reshuffle that also
saw the world's longest-serving foreign minister
replaced.
A royal decree removed Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdul
Aziz bin Saud as next in line to the throne and replaced
him with Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, who headed a
crackdown on al-Qaeda in the country a decade ago.
"We have decided to respond to his highness and what
he had expressed about his desire to be relieved from
the position of crown prince," said a statement from the
royal court, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The decree named "Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as
crown prince" as well as deputy prime minister and said
he would continue in his position of interior minister
and head of the political and security council, a
coordinating body.
Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, reporting from Jizan in the
country's south, said the moves represented a major
change in Saudi Arabia.
"This is the first time that a grandson of the founder of
the country [King Abdulaziz], rather than a son, is
appointed crown prince," our correspondent said.
Assassination attempt
Nayef narrowly escaped an attempt on his life six years
ago, while he was Saudi Arabia's security chief.
Since then he has remained tough on internal security.
There have been many arrests of suspected al-Qaeda
and more recently ISIL members since then.
A separate decree on Wednesday said King Salman's
son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is in his early
30s, will be deputy crown prince. He retains his position
of defence minister.
The new deputy crown prince has played a key role in
the Saudi-led coalition's aerial campaign in Yemen to
try and stop the advance of Houthi fighters, backed by
Iran.
Khalil Jahshan, the executive director for the Arab
Centre of Washington from Fairfax, Virginia, said that the
reshuffle constitutes a "political earthquake of the
greatest magnitude".
"The Saudi Arabia we knew a few hours ago is no
longer," Jahshan told Al Jazeera, adding: "These are
serious changes that will have repercussions not only
domestically but also internationally.
"This is a very decisive answer by King Salman to the
doubts that many experts have expressed since he came
into power with regards to his health, his decisiveness
and his control over political matters in the kingdom.
And this is his unequivocal answer."
Foreign minister, Prince Saud Al Faisal, was replaced
with the kingdom's Washington ambassador Adel al-
Jubeir.
Faisal was first named in 1975, making him the world's
longest-serving foreign minister.
Faisal "asked to be relieved from his duties due to his
health conditions," said the royal decree published on
the official Saudi Press Agency, adding that he was
appointed as an adviser and a special envoy of King
Salman, as well as a supervisor on foreign affairs.
The latest nominations, part of King's Salman second
cabinet reshuffle since he acceded the throne on
January 23.
King Salman, 79, came to power in January after the
death of his half-brother, King Abdullah, at the age of
90.
(Aljazeera/AP)
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