Saudi Foreign Minister Sacked After 10 Months in Office

By Staff, Agencies

Saudi Arabia's King Salman named Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud as the kingdom’s new foreign minister only 10 months after appointing his predecessor.

The new minister had served as the Saudi ambassador to Germany for the last few months and earlier as political adviser at the Washington embassy.

He also served as an adviser to King Salman’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [MBS].

Bin Farhan will take over from Ibrahim al-Assaf, who was demoted to the minister of state.

Al-Assaf’s term was marked by a scandal in wake of the Easter Sunday attacks that hit Sri Lanka in April earlier in the year.

An ‘urgent, confidential and top secret’ document disclosed by Al-Ahed News revealed the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s role or at least ‘relation’ to the terrorist attacks while Christians celebrated Easter Sunday.

The paper was tailed by al-Assaf’s signature, urging the Saudi ambassador to Sri Lanka to delete all documents, computer data and latest correspondence with domestic and foreign members and groups, in addition to imposing a curfew on the embassy personnel unless it is necessary, in addition to other demands.

Al-Assaf replaced Adel al-Jubeir in December 2018 in a surprising replacement, as he was among dozens of prominent Saudi royals and businessmen detained in Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton in November, 2017, in an “anti-corruption” sweep.

At the time, his appointment was widely seen as an effort to improve the kingdom's image after the crisis caused by the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.