“Saudi Arabia's King Salman has appointed his son, Mohammed bin Salman, as heir, in a major reshuffle announced early on Wednesday,” Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday.
“A royal decree removed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a 57-year-old nephew of the king, as next-in-line to the throne and replaced him with Mohammed bin Salman, 31, who was previously the deputy crown prince.”
“Mohammad bin Salman prince was little known to Saudis and outsiders before Salman became king in January 2015. He had previously been in charge of his father's royal court when Salman was the crown prince.”
The report had wide repercussions in world media.
According to Reuters, Al Arabiya television reported that the promotion of the prince was approved by the kingdom's Allegiance Council, and that the king had called for a public pledging of loyalty to Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday evening in Mecca.
Meanwhile, CNBC website reflected the Saudi king's decision saying, “the young prince has taken a central role in Saudi Arabia's efforts to build its economy beyond the oil industry. He holds primary responsibility for the kingdom's military and energy sector.”
'They see in Mohammad bin Salman someone of their own generation moving up the ladder very quickly. He has a certain degree of popularity. He's also grated a lot of people in the family who see him as abrasive, inexperienced, undisciplined, impulsive,' Bruce Riedel, director of the intelligence project at Brookings and former CIA national intelligence officer for the Middle East, earlier told CNBC in 2016.
The Bloomberg also said, “The Saudi monarch, who holds near absolute powers, quickly awarded his son expansive powers to the surprise of many within the royal family who are more senior and more experienced than Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS.”
