Saudi king orders overhaul of top posts after Jamal Khashoggi killing
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a wide-ranging overhaul of top government posts on Thursday -- changes that appear to further consolidate the crown prince's grip on power by appointing advisers and members of the royal family seen as close to him.
The changes, which come in the wake of international fallout from the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, include naming a new foreign minister. King Salman also ordered a shakeup of the kingdom's two supreme councils that oversee matters related to the economy and security, respectively.
Both councils are headed by the king's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose powers, including roles as deputy prime minister and defense minister, were untouched in the overhaul.
Adel al-Jubeir, a soft-spoken foreign minister, was replaced by Ibrahim al-Assaf, formerly a longtime finance minister.
In an interview with CBS News in November, weeks after Khashoggi was murdered, al-Jubeir said the crown prince was "not involved" in his death and that "nobody" in Saudi Arabia is above the law.
Al-Jubeir was appointed to the rank of minister of state for foreign affairs.
Al-Assaf, his replacement, had been serving as a minister of state prior to being named foreign minister. He holds a seat on the boards of state-owned oil-giant Saudi Aramco and the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. The crown prince oversees both entities.
The king issued a number of other royal decrees, which were read on state TV, that replaced the ministers of media and education.
Meanwhile, Prince Abdullah bin Bandar -- the son of Prince Bandar Al Saud who once served as Saudi ambassador to Washington -- was named head of the National Guard, tasked primarily with the protection of the Al Saud ruling family.
One significant change impacts a close aide of the crown prince, Turki al-Sheikh, who was named as head of the kingdom's General Entertainment Authority, a body created in recent years to help organize and promote concerts and other events that had long been banned in the conservative country.
Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince, was killed and dismembered by a team of Saudi agents in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. The U.S. Senate passed a unanimous resolution saying it believes the crown prince is to blame, although Saudi Arabia denies the crown prince knew of the plot.
This month, Khashoggi and other journalists were named Time's Person of the Year for 2018. They were chosen over special counsel Robert Mueller, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump, who were finalists.
