Saudi king replaces crown prince with favoured son
Economic reformer Mohammed bin Salman supplants security tsar Mohammed bin Nayef
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has replaced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef with his favoured son Mohammed bin Salman, overturning the established succession order to ease his son’s ultimate path to the throne.
The crown prince was stripped of his role as second in line to the throne and removed from his post as interior minister, where he oversaw domestic security and counter-terrorism policy.
The radical shift in royal succession, made by royal decrees issued on Wednesday, completes the elevation of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, architect of the oil-rich kingdom’s ambitious economic reform plansand foreign policy.
Speculation has swirled that the elderly king would promote his 31-year-old son so that he could inherit the throne directly, rather than working under Mohammed bin Nayef.