RIYADH: Saudi King Salman has sacked the military chief of staff and a hostof other top commanders, state media said Monday, in a major shake-up ofthe defence establishment.
The monarch also replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences,as well as senior officials at the interior ministry, in a series oflate-night royal decrees.
No official reason was given for the sweeping overhaul, but it comes as theSaudi-led coalition’s military intervention in Yemen against Iran-alignedHuthi 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) said, adding thatFayyad al-Ruwaili had been appointed as his replacement.
Al-Bunyan’s sacking came after he inaugurated a major exhibition this weekby the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), the state-owned defencecompany, which illustrates ongoing efforts to reform the sector.
“These Saudi royal decrees appear to be part of the kingdom’s nationaldefence strategy,” Theodore Karasik — a senior advisor at the consultancyGulf States Analytics — told AFP.
“A military transformation is under way in Saudi Arabia. The changes comeon the heels of the SAMI exhibition, which is a critical part of the PrinceMohammed’s reform plan to create an indigenous defence program.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — the heir to the throne and the son ofthe monarch — is the country’s defence minister and has been consolidatinghis grip on power in recent months.
The changes come in the midst of an ever-worsening conflict in Yemen.
A Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government has been fighting theHuthis since 2015 in a conflict that has led to what the United Nationsdescribes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
More than 9,200 people have been killed in the conflict and another nearly2,200 Yemenis have died of cholera amid deteriorating sanitationconditions, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Separately, a series of civil appointments were announced in other decreeslate Monday.
In an unprecedented announcement, Tamadar Bint Yousef al-Ramah — a Saudiwoman — was appointed the deputy minister of labour and social development.
And Prince Turki bin Talal — the brother of billionaire Prince Al-Waleedbin Talal — was appointed deputy governor of the southern Assir Province.
Prince Al-Waleed — dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia — was amongprinces, ministers, and tycoons detained in Riyadh’s luxury Ritz-Carltonhotel in an unprecedented crackdown on what the government called elitecorruption.
The Ritz-Carlton reopened for business on February 11, more than threemonths after becoming a gilded prison for Saudi elites. – APP /AFP