Saudi King reshuffles Cabinet

Manama: King Salman on Thursday reshuffled the cabinet, naming new foreign and media ministers, removing emirs and shifting several high figures.

King Salman remained the head of the cabinet and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman kept his positions as deputy premier and defence minister. The Council of Political and Security Affairs also remained under the leadership of the crown prince.

King Salman appointed Ebrahim Al Assaf as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Adel Al Jubeir who held the portfolio since 2015 as State Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of the Cabinet.

Turki Al Shabana was named Minister of Media (Information).

Other royal orders appointed Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar as Minister of National Guard and removed Prince Mohammad Bin Nawaf Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud as Ambassador to the UK, Prince Faisal Bin Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud as Prince of Aseer, and Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz as President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.

King Salman appointed Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz as Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission, Turki Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz as Prince of Aseer, Prince Faisal Bin Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz as advisor to King Salman, and Musaad Al Aiban as National Security Advisor.

King Salman also appointed Faisal Bin Nawaf as Emir of Jouf, replacing Prince Bader Bin Sultan, and Abdul Aziz Bin Turki Al Faisal as President of the Sports Commission, replacing Turki Al Shaikh.

Majed Al Qasbi was appointed as the head of the newly-formed General Commission for Exhibitions and Conferences, Ahmad Al Khateeb as Chairman of the General Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Turki Al Shaikh as president of the General Commission for Entertainment and Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammad Bin Abdul Aziz as Advisor at the Royal Court.

Who is Al Assaf?

Saudi Foreign Minister Ebrahim Al Assaf, 69, was a former finance minister and a former state minister.

The US-educated minister started his career in academia as a teacher, a visiting lecturer and an assistant professor. He also served as economic adviser to the Saudi Fund for Development. He represented Saudi Arabia at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. In 1986, he was appointed alternate executive director at the IMF for Saudi Arabia and in 1989, he became the executive director for Saudi Arabia at the World Bank.

In 1995, he served briefly as vice governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, the country's central bank before becoming state in October in the same year. In January 1996, he was appointed minister of finance and national economy, a position that was renamed minister of finance in 2003.

He was also a member of the board of directors of Saudi Aramco, the state-owned national oil company, chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development and member of the Public Investment Fund board.

He was detained in November 2017 during a corruption crackdown by an ad-hoc commission, but was cleared during the investigation and reinstated in his official duties.

The new Saudi cabinet chaired by King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud:

1. Mohammad Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud: Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence

2. Prince Mansoor Bin Mutaab Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of State

3. Prince Turki Bin Mohammad Bin Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of State

4. Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Saud Bin Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior

5. Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of National Guard

6. Prince Bader Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammad Bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Culture

7. Shaikh Saleh Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Mohammad Bin Ebrahim Al Shaikh, Minister of State

8. Abdul Lateef Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al Shaikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Calls and Guidance

9. Waleed Bin Mohammad Bin Saleh Al Samaani, Minister of Justice

10. Mutlaab Bin Abdullah Al Nafeesa, Minister of State

11. Musaed Bin Mohammad Al Aibain, Minister of State

12. Ebrahim Bin Abdul Aziz Al Assaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs

13. Tawfeeq Bin Fawzan Bin Mohammad Al Rabia, Minister of Health

14. Mohammad Bin Faisal Bin Jaber Abu Saq, Minister of State for Shura Council Affairs

15. Esam Bin Saad Bin Saeed, Minister of State

16. Majed Bin Abdullah Al Qasbi, Minister of Commerce and Investment

17. Majed Bin Abdullah Al Qasbi, Minister of Municipality Affairs (In Charge)

18. Mohammad Bin Abdul Malik Al Shaikh, Minister of State

19. Abdul Rahman Bin Abdul Mohsen Al Fadhli, Minister of Environment, Waters and Agriculture

20. Khalid Bin Abdul Rahman Al Eissa, Minister of State

21. Adel Bin Ahmad Al Jubeir, State Minister for Cabinet Affairs

22. Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Faleh, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources

23. Majed Bin Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Haqeel, Minister of Housing

24. Sulaiman Bin Abdullah Al Hamdan, Minister of Civil Service

25. Mohammad Bin Saleh Benten, Minister of Haj and Umrah

26. Mohammad Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Jadaan, Minister of Finance

27. Abdullah Bin Amer Al Sawaha, Minister of Communication and Information Technology

28. Nabeel Bin Mohammad Al Amoodi, Minister of Transportation

29. Mohammad Bin Mzeed Al Tuwaijri, Minister of Economy and Planning

30. Ahmad Bin Sulaiman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi, Minister of Labour and Social Development

31. Fahad Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Lateef Al Mubarak, Minister of State

32. Hamad Bin Mohammad Bin Hamad Al Shaikh, Minister of Education

33. Turki Bin Abdullah Al Shabana, Minister of Information