RIYADH, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz has appointed his son and heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as the kingdom’s prime minister and his second son, Prince Khalid, as defense minister , a royal decree announced on Tuesday.
The reshuffle kept another son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, as energy minister, the elderly king said in the royal decree, published by state news agency SPA.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan and Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih remain in office, the decree said.
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The crown prince, known as MbS, is promoted to defense minister and served as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and a major US ally in the Middle East .
His new role as prime minister is in line with the king’s previous delegation of functions, including representing the kingdom on foreign visits and chairing summits hosted by the kingdom, a Saudi official said.
“HRH the Crown Prince, by order of the King, already oversees the main executive organs of the state on a daily basis, and his new role as Prime Minister fits into this context,” said the official, who declined to be identified. .
Historically, such delegation of functions has taken place in the kingdom on several occasions, the official said.
Prince Khalid bin Salman, MbS’s younger brother, was previously deputy defense minister.
The crown prince said the kingdom had increased its self-sufficiency in military industries from 2% to 15% and planned to reach 50% under the new defense minister, SPA reported.
King Salman will still chair Cabinet meetings he attends, the decree says. After the decree was issued, state television showed the king presiding over a weekly cabinet meeting.
The 86-year-old king, custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, became ruler in 2015 after spending more than 2½ years as crown prince. He has been hospitalized several times over the past two years for various ailments.
Crown Prince Mohammed has radically changed Saudi Arabia since coming to power in 2017, leading efforts to diversify the economy from its reliance on oil, allowing women to drive and limiting the powers of clerics.
His reforms, however, have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, with activists, royals, women’s rights activists and businessmen imprisoned.
The killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 tarnished his reputation and strained the kingdom’s relationship with the United States and other Western allies.
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Reporting by Nayera Abdallah, Alaa Swilam and Mahmoud Mourad; Written by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Christopher Cushing
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