Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia on Monday replaced top military commanders including the chief of staff, state media said, in a major shake-up of the Kingdom’s defence establishment.
The King replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences, as well as civilian officials including several deputy ministers, in a series of late-night royal decrees.
No official reason was given for the sweeping overhaul, but it comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pursues military reform and a campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels nears the end of its third year.
“Termination of the services of General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh Al Bunyan, Chief of Staff,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced, adding that Fayyad Al Ruwaili had been appointed as his replacement.
Al Bunyan was retired after he inaugurated an arms exhibition this week in Riyadh by the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), the state-owned defence company, which has drawn several global defence firms.
“A military transformation is underway in Saudi Arabia,” Theodore Karasik, a senior advisor at the consultancy Gulf States Analytics, told AFP.
“The changes come on the heels of the SAMI exhibition, which is a critical part of the Prince Mohammed’s reform plan to create an indigenous defence program,” he added.
Crown Prince Mohammed is the country’s defence minister and has been consolidating his grip on power in recent months while pushing major economic and social reforms.
The Prince has pursued an assertive regional policy, including leading a military intervention in neighbouring Yemen since 2015.
King Salman also decreed a series of civilian appointments that saw younger officials being elevated to key positions as deputy ministers, deputy provincial governors and royal court advisors.
Tamadur bint Youssef Al Ramah has been made deputy minister of labour and social development, in the broad shake-up of mid-ranking positions.
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 princes, ministers and tycoons detained in Riyadh’s luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel in an unprecedented crackdown on what the government calls elite corruption.
The Ritz-Carlton reopened for business on February 11, more than three months after becoming a gilded prison for Saudi elites.
