Saudi King Shuffles Cabinet
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia replaced his oil and finance ministers on Wednesday--the fifth anniversary of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait--in the biggest Cabinet shake-up since the Saudi monarch came to power in 1982.
Fahd’s four brothers retained their key Cabinet posts, as first deputy prime minister and ministers of defense, Interior and public works; Fahd’s nephew remains foreign minister.
No reason was given for the changes. Saudi watchers said they were unaware of any tension between the ousted ministers and the royal family.
In the shuffle, Suleiman ibn Abdulaziz Sulaim, the commerce minister and a USC graduate, replaces Mohammed Aba Khayl as finance minister. Ali ibn Ibrahim Naimi, president of the Aramco oil company, replaces Oil Minister Hisham Nazir.
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