Muqrin is new Saudi intelligence chief

Saudi Arabia named Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz as its new intelligence chief on Saturday.

"Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz has been appointed as the president of the General Intelligence at the rank of a minister," said a royal decree carried by the state news agency SPA.

The appointment comes after a nine-month gap since the last head resigned, according to SPA.

Muqrin was the governor of the Muslim holy western region of Madinah, the site of the tomb of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Muqrin is the youngest of the kingdom's founder King Abdul Aziz's surviving sons.

The previous intelligence chief, Prince Nawaf Bin Abdul Aziz, 72, had stayed in his post until January despite suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2002. Former King Fahd appointed him as an adviser at a ministerial level.

The move comes a week after King Abdullah set up a seven-member national security council, which includes the defence, interior and foreign ministers, as part of a broader move to fortify security measures in the country.

The statement also said King Abdullah had relieved the former vice-president of intelligence, Prince Saud Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, from his post.

Saudi Arabia has been battling a wave of Al Qaida-linked violence for the last two years.