INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
sweeping government reshuffle Thursday, replacing key security and political figures including the foreign minister, as the kingdom grapples
with the international fallout over critic Jamal Khashoggi's murder.The surprise shake up saw the appointment of a new National Guard chief
and the head of a new space agency, but the ministries of energy and finance were unaffected despite an economic downturn.The revamp left
untouched the authority of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler facing intense international scrutiny over the October 2
murder of journalist Khashoggi, which tipped the kingdom into one of its worst crises.Ibrahim al-Assaf, a former finance minister who was
detained last year in an anti-corruption sweep, will replace Adel al-Jubeir as foreign minister, a royal decree said.Jubeir was effectively
demoted to minister of state for foreign affairs, the decree added without explaining the change, as the kingdom appears diplomatically
weakened after Khashoggi's murder.In other significant appointments, Prince Abdullah bin Bandar was named chief of the powerful National
Guard, and Musaed al-Aiban was appointed the new national security adviser.The reshuffle would help the crown prince further "consolidate
power" as many of those promoted were his "key allies", tweeted Ali Shihabi, head of the pro-Saudi think tank The Arabia Foundation.In other
changes, Turki al-Shabanah was appointed as the new information minister, replacing Awwad al-Awwad -- who was named as an advisor to the
royal court.Turki al-Sheikh, a close aide to the crown prince, was removed as the head of the kingdom's sports commission and appointed
entertainment authority chief, while Ahmed al-Khatib was named tourism authority chief.The king also ordered the creation of a national
space agency to be led by one of his other sons, Prince Sultan bin Salman, a former astronaut.The energy, economy and finance ministries
were left untouched even as the kingdom grapples with a sharp fall in crude prices that has generated renewed uncertainty over Prince
Mohammed's Vision 2030 reform programme for a post-oil era.But the appointment as foreign minister of Assaf, who holds a seat on the boards
of state oil giant Aramco and the vast Public Investment Fund, indicates an emphasis on "economic diplomacy" as the kingdom seeks to
reassure foreign investors rattled by the Khashoggi crisis, analysts say.Assaf was held in Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel last year along with
hundreds of elite princes and businessmen, in what the government called an anti-corruption crackdown.Impact of critic's murderThe fallout
over Khashoggi's murder is widely seen as the kingdom's worst diplomatic crisis since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United
States, in which most of the hijackers were identified as Saudi nationals."You cannot delink Khashoggi from any developments, though
government reshuffles are customary every four years," said Mohammed Alyahya, a senior fellow at the Gulf Research Centre."The reshuffle saw
the appointment of some young princes, but also veteran statesmen to positions of power
There is an effort to balance the fast pace of reform with bolstering government procedures and institutions."The shakeup comes after Saudi
Arabia last week said it was creating government bodies to boost oversight of its intelligence operations, in the wake of Khashoggi's
murder.The kingdom has said Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate in a "rogue operation" led by Saudi agents, but the CIA
reportedly concluded that Prince Mohammed ordered his assassination.The murder has tarnished the image of 33-year-old crown prince, who
controls all major levers of power
He is set to maintain his political and security posts after Thursday's reshuffle, including that of defence minster.Saudi Arabia last week
slammed as "interference" a US Senate resolution that held Prince Mohammed responsible for the killing, warning that the move could have
repercussions on its strategic ties with Washington."The primary bone of contention between Saudi Arabia and American lawmakers is the power
of Prince Mohammed and his responsibility for the murder of Khashoggi," said Ryan Bohl, from the US geopolitical think tank Stratfor."This
reshuffle doesn't undercut the crown prince, meaning that those within the US Congress who want to see his role reduced will have an
argument that further action should still be taken."(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff
and is published from a syndicated feed.)
