São Paulo – The Saudi king Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has appointed his half-brother, the minister of Defence Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the next in line to the throne, after the passing, last Saturday, of the heir prince and Interior minister Naif Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, another half-brother to the monarch. The information was disclosed by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the country’s government news agency.
Salman will retain his position as minister of Defence and assume position as deputy prime minister, formerly held by Naif. The dead prince was 79 years old. The new heir is 76 and was formerly the governor of the province of Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for nearly five decades.
This is the second time in less than a year that the king is forced to appoint a successor. Naif had been named in October last year after this predecessor, Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, died.
Naif had been the minister of the Interior since 1975. His joint minister and brother, Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was appointed to take his position.
Since the death of the founder of the Saudi kingdom, Abdulaziz Al Saud, in 1953, all Saudi kings were his children, including the current monarch and his heir to throne.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
