Saudi prince fires top military commanders
■ Names first woman minister for labour, social welfare wing
Riyadh, Feb. 27: Saudi Arabia has replaced top military commanders, including its chief of staff, in the latest move to bring fresh blood into the kingdom’s upper ranks.
The changes, announced in a string of royal decrees late on Monday, come a month before the third anniversary of a Saudi- led military intervention in the Yemen war which has killed thousands and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
The monarch on Monday replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences as well as several deputy ministers, and in a rare move named a woman to the government.
“Termination of the services of General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh alBunyan, Chief of Staff,” the official Saudi Press Agency ( SPA) announced, adding that Fayyad alRuwaili had been appointed as his replacement.
No official reason was given for the sweeping overhaul.
State media said, however, the decisions were taken “upon the recommendation” of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also defence minister and widely seen as the power behind the throne.
Tamadar bint Yousef alRamah was appointed the deputy minister of labour and social development, a rare senior government post for a woman in the conservative kingdom.
Prince Turki bin Talal, the brother of billionaire Prince Al- Waleed bin Talal, was appointed deputy governor of the southern Assir Province.
Prince Al- Waleed, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia, was among the 200- some princes, ministers and tycoons detained in Riyadh's luxury RitzCarlton hotel over what the government calls elite corruption.
Al- Bunyan's retirement comes after he inaugurated a global arms exhibition this week in Riyadh by the Saudi Arabian Military Industries ( SAMI), the state- owned defence company.
Analysts say the changes point to a strategy to create a self- contained defence industry. “A military transformation is underway,” Theodore Karasik, a senior advisor at the consultancy Gulf States Analytics, said.
“The exhibition is a critical part of the Prince Mohammed’s reform plan to create an indigenous defence programme,” he said.
THE MONARCH on Monday replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences as well as several deputy ministers, and in a rare move named a woman to the government.