Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has removed veteran deputy defence minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan from his post, state media reported on Saturday, the latest move in a reshuffle among princes holding government jobs in the US-allied kingdom. Switches of important posts between princes are closely watched because they indicate possible changes in the line of succession in the monarchy, the dominant power among Gulf Arab states and the world's biggest oil exporter.
Prince Khaled was head of the Saudi armed forces during the 1991 Gulf War but was passed over for the job of Defence Minister in 2011 after the death of his father, Crown Prince Sultan, who had held the position for five decades. He has been replaced as deputy defence minister by Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing a royal decree. Prince Fahd is a former head of the Saudi navy.
SPA did not give a reason for the switch. The Defence Minister is Crown Prince Salman, King Abdullah's named successor. He oversees multi-billion-dollar arms purchases that cement Saudi Arabia's alliances with Western nations. Unlike in European monarchies, the Saudi ruling family succession does not move from father to eldest son but along a line of brothers born to the kingdom's founder, and is based on seniority, experience, temperament and position in the family. It is not clear who will rule after King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman, but the succession hopes of Prince Muqrin, the youngest of the brothers, were boosted when he was appointed second deputy prime minister earlier this year.