Saudi Arabia has named Prince Salman its new crown prince, heir
apparent to the 89-year-old King Abdullah, after the death of Crown
Prince Nayef on Saturday, state TV says citing a royal decree.
The 76-year-old prince will retain his role as defence minister, a
post he was appointed to in October; he will also become the deputy
prime minister.
Salman served for nearly five decades as the governor of Riyadh, the
desert metropolis which today houses more than five million people. He
is seen as a less reactionary figure than Nayef, but still tends towards
political conservatism.
In a 2007 US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, he argues
against introducing democracy to Saudi Arabia because of regional and
tribal divisions. “He [Salman] said that the [kingdom] is composed of
tribes and regions, and if democracy were imposed, each tribe and region
would have its political party,” the cable said.
He will be Saudi Arabia's third crown prince in less than a year:
Nayef's predecessor, Prince Sultan, died in October of an unspecified
illness.
Salman's younger brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, was appointed
the new interior minister, filling a post Nayef had held since 1975.
Ahmed had long been Nayef's deputy.
Nayef's son, Mohammed bin Nayef, remains an assistant interior
minister, and is expected to play a major role in the ministry's
day-to-day operations.
