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Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Monday selected Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz as the new crown prince and appointed him deputy premier and minister of defence while Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz was made the interior minister.
The appointments followed former crown prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's death Saturday. The 78-year-old was also deputy prime minister and interior minister of the country.
King Abdullah has chosen Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, the current defence minister, as the crown prince and appointed him deputy prime minister and defence ministerthe , Saudi Press Agency quoted a royal order as saying Monday.
Another royal order said King Abdullah appointed Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the current deputy minister of interior, as minister of interior.
Nayef, who died following a prolonged illness, was Sunday buried after sunset prayers in the holy city of Mecca.
Related Stories
UAE leaders greet new Saudi crown Prince
On Sunday, King Abdullah, together with other worshippers, offered funeral prayers for the crown prince at the holy mosque in Mecca.
India was represented by Law Minister Salman Khurshid at the funeral ceremony.
Earlier, a statement from King Abdullah, said prince Nayef died "outside the kingdom".
He was hospitalised in Geneva and had left the country for medical tests late last month.
As the kingdom's interior minister since 1975, Nayef had led the crackdown on Al Qaeda's offshoot in the country after the Sep 11, 2001 attacks in the US.
IANS
(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia named Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz to be crown prince Monday, the state news agency reported, putting him next in line to the throne of the oil-rich kingdom.
His appointment comes a day after burial services for Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, whose death was announced Saturday.
Salman, 76, who was already defense minister, retains that post and becomes deputy prime minister as well, the Saudi Press Agency reported Monday, citing a royal order. He is a brother of the late King Fahd and Crown Prince Nayef, and a half-brother of King Abdullah.
He became defense minister in November.
Saudi Crown Prince Nayef dies Biden meets Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Saudi Arabia pumping out too much oil? Saudi Arabia: Paving the way for change
Salman's official biography on the website of the kingdom's Interior Ministry says he had memorized the Quran by the age of 10.
Nayef, a hard-line conservative credited with pushing back al Qaeda, was interior minister as well as crown prince. Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz is replacing him as interior minister, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Nayef was named crown prince in October by his brother, the king.
Saudi state TV, which reported his death Saturday, broadcast Quran readings as an expression of mourning for the prince, who died in Geneva, Switzerland. He was in his late 70s.
"It is a shock. We all knew his health was frail, but his death is a shock," Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman Osama Nogali said. "We still don't know the reason behind his death."
Abdullah attended the funeral, along with Gen. Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
U.S. President Barack Obama released a statement Saturday offering his condolences.
"Under his leadership, the United States and Saudi Arabia developed a strong and effective partnership in the fight against terrorism, one that has saved countless American and Saudi lives," he said.
He praised Nayef for supporting a broad partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden similarly offered his condolences and hailed the former leader as an important ally in the fight against terror.
Nayef had been Saudi interior minister since 1975, overseeing the kingdom's counterterrorism efforts. He also was deputy premier.
A classified U.S. Embassy cable leaked by the website WikiLeaks described Nayef as a hard-line conservative who was lukewarm to King Abdullah's reform initiatives.
Nayef led the crackdown against hard-line Islamists who took control of Mecca in 1979 and also oversaw the smashing of Saudi-based al Qaeda cells in the early 2000s.
In recent years, his son, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, led the kingdom's fight against al Qaeda as the elder Nayef seemed to have taken more of a back seat.
CNN's Nima Elbagir, Rima Maktabi, Hamdi Alkhshali, Mohammed Jamjoom, Caroline Faraj and Kevin Flower contributed to this report.
The appointments followed former crown prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's death Saturday. The 78-year-old was also deputy prime minister and interior minister of the country.
King Abdullah has chosen Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, the current defence minister, as the crown prince and appointed him deputy prime minister and defence ministerthe , Saudi Press Agency quoted a royal order as saying Monday.
Another royal order said King Abdullah appointed Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the current deputy minister of interior, as minister of interior.
Nayef, who died following a prolonged illness, was Sunday buried after sunset prayers in the holy city of Mecca.
Related Stories
UAE leaders greet new Saudi crown Prince
On Sunday, King Abdullah, together with other worshippers, offered funeral prayers for the crown prince at the holy mosque in Mecca.
India was represented by Law Minister Salman Khurshid at the funeral ceremony.
Earlier, a statement from King Abdullah, said prince Nayef died "outside the kingdom".
He was hospitalised in Geneva and had left the country for medical tests late last month.
As the kingdom's interior minister since 1975, Nayef had led the crackdown on Al Qaeda's offshoot in the country after the Sep 11, 2001 attacks in the US.
IANS
(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia named Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz to be crown prince Monday, the state news agency reported, putting him next in line to the throne of the oil-rich kingdom.
His appointment comes a day after burial services for Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, whose death was announced Saturday.
Salman, 76, who was already defense minister, retains that post and becomes deputy prime minister as well, the Saudi Press Agency reported Monday, citing a royal order. He is a brother of the late King Fahd and Crown Prince Nayef, and a half-brother of King Abdullah.
He became defense minister in November.
Saudi Crown Prince Nayef dies Biden meets Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Saudi Arabia pumping out too much oil? Saudi Arabia: Paving the way for change
Salman's official biography on the website of the kingdom's Interior Ministry says he had memorized the Quran by the age of 10.
Nayef, a hard-line conservative credited with pushing back al Qaeda, was interior minister as well as crown prince. Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz is replacing him as interior minister, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Nayef was named crown prince in October by his brother, the king.
Saudi state TV, which reported his death Saturday, broadcast Quran readings as an expression of mourning for the prince, who died in Geneva, Switzerland. He was in his late 70s.
"It is a shock. We all knew his health was frail, but his death is a shock," Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman Osama Nogali said. "We still don't know the reason behind his death."
Abdullah attended the funeral, along with Gen. Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
U.S. President Barack Obama released a statement Saturday offering his condolences.
"Under his leadership, the United States and Saudi Arabia developed a strong and effective partnership in the fight against terrorism, one that has saved countless American and Saudi lives," he said.
He praised Nayef for supporting a broad partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden similarly offered his condolences and hailed the former leader as an important ally in the fight against terror.
Nayef had been Saudi interior minister since 1975, overseeing the kingdom's counterterrorism efforts. He also was deputy premier.
A classified U.S. Embassy cable leaked by the website WikiLeaks described Nayef as a hard-line conservative who was lukewarm to King Abdullah's reform initiatives.
Nayef led the crackdown against hard-line Islamists who took control of Mecca in 1979 and also oversaw the smashing of Saudi-based al Qaeda cells in the early 2000s.
In recent years, his son, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, led the kingdom's fight against al Qaeda as the elder Nayef seemed to have taken more of a back seat.
CNN's Nima Elbagir, Rima Maktabi, Hamdi Alkhshali, Mohammed Jamjoom, Caroline Faraj and Kevin Flower contributed to this report.
