LITTLE NOTICED, NEW SAUDI KING SHAPES CONTOURS OF POWER

For more WORLD NEWS "SUBSCRIBE" US

RIYADH:
By rapidly appointing two heirs, Saudi Arabia's King Salman has pressed pause on "succession Sudoku", as one leading local journalist calls speculation over whose star is rising and whose waning in the large and secretive Al Saud ruling family.

The choice of 69-year-old Muqrin for crown prince and 55-year-old Mohammed bin Nayef for deputy crown prince resolved the most important dilemma in the dynasty's recent history, how to jump from sons of its founder, King Abdulaziz, to his grandsons.

Yet while much attention has focused on the naming of Muqrin and bin Nayef, less noticed moves have indicated broader changes in the contours of how the Al Saud manage their power and which young princes might rule the world's top oil exporter and key Western ally in future.

After decades during which top jobs were held by the same handful of people, these appointments appear to set in place a new ruling team to dominate Saudi politics at a time of unprecedented regional turmoil and long-term challenges.

[break]

النجاح مع الوطن والشعب
اليوم الاتحاد مع العالم العربي
اليوم الاتحاد مع العالم العربي والاسلامي