[Newly appointed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (Right), and his deputy Moammed bin Salman.]
Riyadh: In a major reshuffle that also saw the world's longest-serving foreign minister replaced, Saudi Arabia's King Salman has named his powerful Interior Minister as heir and next to the throne and also anointed Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his son, his deputy and second in line to the throne.
In a royal decree in the early hours of Wednesday, King Salman removed Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz bin Saud as next in line to the throne and replaced him with Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, who headed a crackdown on al-Qaeda in the country a decade ago.
King Salman said he appointed Naif as heir to the throne after Crown Prince Muqrin requested to be relieved of the position he held since Salman ascended the throne following the death of King Abdullah in January.
"We have decided to respond to his highness and what he had expressed about his desire to be relieved from the position of crown prince," said a statement from the royal court, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The decree named "Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as crown prince" as well as deputy PM and said he would continue in his position of interior minister and head of the political and security council, a coordinating body.
At the same time, King Salman also relieved Saud al-Faisal, the world's longest-serving foreign minister on his request due to his health conditions, and and named Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir in his stead, state SPA news agency reported.
However, the veteran diplomat was appointed as a state minister, an adviser and a special envoy of the king, as well as a supervisor on foreign affairs.
Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, reporting from Jizan in the country's south, said the moves represented a major change in Saudi Arabia.
"This is the first time that a grandson of the founder of the country, rather than a son, is appointed crown prince," he said.
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