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Rabat – King Salman Bin Abdelaziz has named his son Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdelaziz Crown Prince in major move announced in the early hours of Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
Royal order: Relieving Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of his posts of Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Interior Minister.
— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) June 21, 2017
According to the Saudi channel Al Arabiya, the Saudi Arabia’s Allegiance Council voted 31 to 34 in favor of Mohammed Bin Salman.
The newly appointed Crown Prince replaces Mohammed Bin Nayef, who held the position of Heir until today’s reshuffle. Mohammed Bin Nayef, who is a nephew of King Salman, was dismissed from his positions as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
The newly issued royal decree also named Mohamed Bin Salman Deputy Prime Minister. Before his appointment as heir apparent, MBS was previously deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense and head of an economic council in charge of implementing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
Prior to becoming next-in-line to the Saudi throne, Mohammed Bin Salman was in charge of his father royal court when King Salman was Crown Prince.
The reshuffle comes amid an unprecedented diplomatic crisis crippling the Gulf region after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt decided to severe diplomatic with Qatar, shutting down all air, land and see borders with the gas-rich country.
Observers believe the new Crown Prince is the mastermind behind the war in Yemen launched over two years ago with the goal of fighting the Houti rebels and restoring the legitimate government of Abderabbo Mansour Hadi. But the military campaign launched with the participation of many Muslim nations has failed to achieve its main goal. Instead, Yemen has become home to one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War II with millions of internally displaced refugees and up to 18 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
