Controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is promoted to be the country’s Prime Minister by his father King Salman
- Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has become prime minister
- Saudi King Salman ordered the cabinet reshuffle, promoting his son in process
- His other son, Khalid bin Salman, has risen from deputy to the defence minister
- And Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has remained Saudi Arabia’s energy minister
Controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been promoted to be the country’s Prime Minister by his father King Salman.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, known as MBS, has become the kingdom’s prime minister, a royal decree said on Tuesday.
Saudi King Salman ordered the cabinet reshuffle, giving his son the post which has traditionally held by the king.
MBS, who has been the kingdom’s de facto ruler for several years, was previously serving as deputy prime minister under King Salman as well as defence minister.
He is being replaced as defence minister by his younger brother, Khalid bin Salman, who was previously deputy defence minister.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman remained Saudi Arabia’s energy minister under a new cabinet headed by the kingdom’s crown prince and de facto ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaanand and the investment minister Khalid al-Falih kept their positions in the new cabinet.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has become the kingdom’s prime minister. Pictured on August 20, 2022
The Crown Prince has been appointed prime minister by his father, a post traditionally held by the king (pictured)
Prince Mohammed, who turned 37 last month, has been first in line to succeed his father as king since 2017.
He became defence minister in 2015, a key step in a swift consolidation of power that saw him take the lead on major portfolios.
Saudi Arabia has for years sought to quell speculation over the health of 86-year-old King Salman, who has ruled the world’s top oil exporter since 2015.
In 2017, it dismissed reports and mounting speculation that the king was planning to abdicate in favour of Prince Mohammed.
King Salman has been hospitalised twice so far this year, most recently a one-week stay in May that involved tests including a colonoscopy, according to state media reports.
The reshuffle follows an agreement made on Sunday by the United Arab Emirates to supply natural gas and diesel to Germany as part of an ‘energy security’ deal to replace Russian supplies.
Emirati industry minister Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber called it a ‘landmark new agreement’ that ‘reinforces the rapidly growing energy partnership between the UAE and Germany’, at a signing attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the UAE’s state news agency WAM reported.
Scholz signed the deal while on a Gulf tour that took him to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar hunting for new energy sources.
He met with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who said on Twitter they had discussed ‘cooperation in areas including energy security, emissions reduction and climate action’.
The German leader said he ‘welcomed’ the ‘energy security’ agreement, WAM said.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2022
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents, including members of the MBS inner circle, at the country’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Human rights groups criticised the meeting because of Prince Mohammed’s alleged involvement in the killing of Saudi Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Scholz told reporters after the meeting that he had discussed ‘all the questions around civil and human rights’ with the prince, but declined to elaborate.
Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents, including members of the MBS inner circle, at the country’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, four years ago.
At first the Crown Prince denied any knowledge of Mr Khashoggi’s fate, claiming ‘we have nothing to hide’.
He was later forced to deny he had personally ordered the killing of Mr Khashoggi, whose body was dismembered and his remains were never recovered.
The Crown Prince eventually blamed a ‘rogue operation’ by agents acting independently from his regime for the death.
In 2019 five Saudi officials were sentenced to death in the Gulf state for participating in Mr Khashoggi’s murder. Three others received lengthy prison sentences.
They had arrived in Istanbul just days before Mr Khashoggi’s death and were aware he was intending to visit the consulate.
Earlier this month, MBS was represented at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral by Prince Turki bin Mohammed al Saud, amid backlash at a visit to the UK.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said Heads of State of nations with which the UK has diplomatic relations may choose to delegate the invitation.
A source said the change had been made by Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.
Human Rights groups criticised the decision to invite the Crown Prince – who has been accused by Western intelligence of ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – to the funeral.
Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Mr Khashoggi, had also condemned the controversial invitation.
She said his presence at Her Majesty’s state funeral would ‘stain her memory’ – a sentiment echoed by activists who say allowing Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler to attend is trying to ‘whitewash’ his human rights record.
The Prince ‘approved’ the murder and dismemberment of Mr Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018, a declassified CIA report alleged. He vehemently denies the claims and said recently that that the journalist would not be among his top 1,000 targets to kill, ‘if that was how we did things’.
MBS was one of the more than 500 foreign dignitaries and heads of state invited to mourn Queen Elizabeth II during the service at Westminster Abbey. A cast of controversial statesmen were invited to the affair including Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Hatice Cengiz (right) criticised the Saudi’s ruler’s invitation to the funeral, arguing he was using a time of mourning to ‘seek legitimacy and normalisation.’ She is pictured with her fiance Jamal Khashoggi (left)
Speaking at the time, Ms Cengiz criticised the Saudi’s ruler’s invitation to the funeral, arguing he was using a time of mourning to ‘seek legitimacy and normalisation.’
‘The Queen’s passing is a truly sad occasion,’ she told The Guardian. ‘The crown prince should not be allowed to be part of this mourning and not be allowed to stain her memory and use this time mourning to seek legitimacy and normalisation.’
Her claims were echoed by advocacy groups across the UK who alleged Her Majesty’s death is not the time for ‘authoritarian dictators’ to try and ‘rehabilitate’ their image.
‘The UK simply should not be welcoming dictators from states renowned for their atrocious human rights records,’ Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said.
‘Although the leaders of Russia and Syria have rightly not received invitations to attend the Queen’s funeral, it sends a clear double standard to then welcome notorious Gulf despots such as King Hamad and Mohammed bin Salman, who continue to preside over appalling violations against those who dare to speak out in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.’
Activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the UK-based director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, reiterated his colleagues claims, saying: ‘Authoritarian dictators should not use the Queen’s death as an opportunity to try to rehabilitate their image while they escalate repressive campaigns in their countries.’
Similarly, UK-based Campaign Against the Arms Trade slammed Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies for ‘using the Queen’s funeral as a way to – in their words – “whitewash” their human rights records,’ BBC reported.
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