Saudi Arabia has declared Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom's crown prince while Prince Mohammed bin Nayef has been relieved from his position after a royal decree was issued by King Salman bin Abdulaziz early on Wednesday morning.

The Saudi Press Agency confirmed that 31 out of 34 members of Saudi Arabia's Allegiance Council chose Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom's crown prince.

King Salman has called for a public pledging of allegiance to the Crown Prince in Mecca on Wednesday. Mohammed bin Salman was also named deputy prime minister, and maintains his post as minister of defense.

Under the same royal decree, King Salman has also appointed Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef as Saudi Arabia's interior minister while Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Salem was named deputy minister of interior. Dr. Nasser al-Daoud was relieved of his post and appointed as under-secretary of the interior ministry.

More appointments

King Salman also ordered the appointment of Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz as an advisor to the Royal Court.

In addition, Prince Abdulrahman Al-Rabian was appointed Advisor to the Royal Court, Prince Faisal bin Sattam bin Abdul Aziz as the Kingdom's Ambassador to the Italian Republic and Prince Turki Bin Mohammed Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz as Advisor to the Royal Court.

Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sudairi was appointed as an advisor to the Royal Court.

Prince Faisal bin Sattam bin Abdul Aziz was appointed the Kingdom's ambassador of the Italian Republic and Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz as the Kingdom's ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Prince Abdul Aziz bin Turki bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Sport.

A royal order was also issued appointing Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahad bin Turki bin Abdul Aziz as the Deputy Governor of Al-Jouf region.

Prince Bandar bin Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz was appointed Assistant Head of General Intelligence. King Salman also ordered the appointment of the Prince as an advisor to the Royal Court.

Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz was appointed Advisor to the Royal Court, Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz as Advisor to the Royal Court with the rank of Minister and Abdul Rahman Al Rabian as Advisor to the Royal Court.

The royal order included the following, Chapter 2 of Article 5 of the Basic Law of Government shall be amended to read as follows: “Rule passes to the sons of the founding King, Abd al-Aziz Bin Abd al-Rahman al-Faysal Al Saud, and to their children's children. The most upright among them is to receive allegiance in accordance with the principles of the Holy Quran and the Tradition of the Venerable Prophet.”



Last Update: Wednesday, 21 June 2017 KSA 09:08 - GMT 06:08