Saudi appoints Prince Salman crown prince
Source: BI-ME with Reuters , Author: Posted by BI-ME staff
Posted: Mon June 18, 2012 5:05 pm



Run MS Office Pro
2010 on latest Win7
Ultimate OS to
increase your
business confidence




Buy HP Pavilion
 laptop with Corsair
DDR3 RAM for
superb performance




Need a personal loan
in Dubai? Contact
Citibank UAE for all
of your banking needs

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has appointed Defense Minister Prince Salman as crown prince and heir apparent, ensuring a smooth succession at a time of tough challenges for the world's biggest oil exporter.

The appointment, reported on state television, was announced in a royal decree one day after the burial of Crown Prince and Interior Minister Nayef, who died on Saturday.

Crown Prince Salman becomes Abdullah's third heir after the deaths of two elder brothers in the past eight months. He has built a reputation for pragmatism and is seen as likely to continue the king's cautious domestic reforms.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a younger brother of both Salman and Nayef, was named as the new interior minister after spending several decades as deputy interior minister.

The new crown prince will keep the defense portfolio and has been appointed deputy prime minister to King Abdullah, the royal decree said.

Salman, 76, a half-brother of the 89-year-old Abdullah, is likely to continue with cautious social and economic reforms as well as Saudi Arabia's moderate oil pricing policy, analysts said before his appointment.

He would also be likely to maintain the kingdom's alliances with Western and Sunni Muslim states, they said.

 

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

date:Posted: May 22, 2013
iNTERNATIONAL. Control over Homs will enable al Assad to rapidly move forces from the north to the south to meet emerging rebel threats. It will also provide a key avenue of retreat to the Alawite coast in the event that he needs to flee Damascus.
date:Posted: May 22, 2013
INTERNATIONAL. A government that slaughters its people and maims a whole generation is not a government with whom to negotiate. It is nothing short of travesty that the Obama administration is still mired in the illusion that a political solution is possible.
date:Posted: May 22, 2013
INTERNATIONAL. Professor Jon Rushman has accused the US authorities of being "hysterical' after seizing the bank account of the world's biggest Bitcoin exchange and called for an "intelligent debate" about the future of virtual currency.
EGYPT. The Egyptian government is facing an increasingly difficult set of economic circumstances that could raise inflationary pressures and lead to further social unrest, says a report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services



Wide selection of craft tools and coloured pencils will give more options to your creative side


Doing business in the Middle East? Your starting point is GulfTradeHolding, the Middle East Business Directory