Saudi Arabia’s newly enthroned King Salman moved quickly Friday to name a future successor to the crown in his oil-rich kingdom, a significant appointment that puts the kingdom’s future squarely in the hands of a new generation.
King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud’s actions came as the Sunni-ruled kingdom mourned King Abdullah, who died early Friday at the age of 90 after nearly two decades in power.
A royal decree affirmed Crown Prince Muqrin as his immediate successor. After Muqrin, Salman named Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as deputy crown prince, making him second-in-line to the throne. Mohammed is the first grandson of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, to be named as a future heir.
King Salman promised in a nationally televised speech to continue the policies of his predecessors.
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Prince Mohammed is the son of Salman’s brother Nayef. Like his father, Nayef, who was a formidable power in Saudi Arabia until his death in 2012, Mohammed is head of the powerful Interior Ministry that oversees the country’s police. Mohammed was the target of a botched assassination attempt by al-Qaida militants in 2009.
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Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef and Jon Gambrell in Cairo, and Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
