Saudi Arabia’ s Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Khalid Bin Sultan has been dismissed by a royal decree issued on Saturday, according the Saudi Press Agency which was reported by several middle-eastern websites.
The reason for the dismissal is not clear, however, some analysts pointed out that courteous phrases indicating voluntary resignation – such as “upon his request” – are missing in the royal decree.
Thus, it indicates the dismissal came as a result of a fall out between Prince Khalid Bin Sultan and the Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who is also Minister of Defense.
The royal decree appointed Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad as Deputy Minister of Defense.
It is to be recalled that Prince Khaled bin Sultan made anti-Ethiopian remarks last February in the context of opposing Ethiopia’s right to use the Nile waters. Among his remarks:
“the Ethiopian Renaissance dam….is for political plotting rather than for economic gain and constitutes a threat to Egyptian and Sudanese national security”.
“There are fingers messing with water resources of Sudan and Egypt which are rooted in the mind and body of Ethiopia. They do not forsake an opportunity to harm Arabs without taking advantage of it”.
The government of Saudi formally denounced the hostile remarks last week.
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Check the Ethio-Saudi diplomatic crisis archive for background info.
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