Saudi king sacks foreign minister 10 months after his appointment

Iran Press TV

Thu Oct 24, 2019 02:53AM

Saudi Arabia's King Salman has named Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud as the country's new foreign minister only 10 months after appointing his predecessor.

Bin Farhan had served as the Saudi ambassador to Germany for the last few months and earlier as political adviser at the Washington embassy.

He also served as an adviser to King Salman's son, the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The new minister will take over from Ibrahim al-Assaf, who was demoted to the minister of state.

The outgoing minister had replaced Adel al-Jubeir in December 2018 in a surprising replacement, as he was among dozens of prominent Saudi royals and businessmen detained in Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton in November, 2017, in an "anti-corruption" sweep.

At the time, his appointment was widely seen as an effort to improve the kingdom's image after the crisis caused by the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In another royal decree late Wednesday, King Salman also appointed a new transport minister.