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Arabia
Saudi king replaces military chiefs in shake-up
2018-02-27
[bbc] Saudi Arabia has sacked its top military commanders, including the chief of staff, in a series of late-night royal decrees.

Saudi King Salman also replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defenses.

The news was published by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), but no reason for the sackings was given.

They come as the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting rebels, is nearing the end of its third year.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the defense minister, is believed to be behind various recent shake-ups in the country.

The service of the chief of staff, General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan, is among those "terminated", said the SPA.

Various military figures have already been promoted to replace those sacked.

A series of political appointments were announced at the same time, including the rare appointment of a female deputy minister of labor and social development, Tamadar bint Yousef al-Ramah.

Prince Turki bin Talal was appointed new deputy governor of the south-west Asir province. He is the brother of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who was detained in the anti-corruption drive and released two months later.

Times of Israel has more detailed info
“Termination of the services of General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan, Chief of Staff,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced, adding that Fayyad al-Ruwaili had been appointed as his replacement.


Al-Bunyan was retired after he inaugurated an arms exhibition this week in Riyadh by the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), the state-owned defense company, which has drawn several global defense firms.

“A military transformation is underway in Saudi Arabia,” Theodore Karasik, a senior adviser at the consultancy Gulf States Analytics, told AFP.

Saudi Gazette

RIYADH – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman appointed Prince Badr Bin Sultan as new emir of Al-Jouf, replacing Prince Fahd Bin Badr.

In a series of royal decrees issued on Monday evening, the King made several key appointments of civil and military officials.

Prince Fahd Bin Badr was appointed adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in the rank of minister.

Prince Turki Bin Talal was named deputy emir of Asir and Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Bin Muqrin deputy emir of Hail.

Dr. Tamader Bint Yousef Al-Rammah has been appointed deputy minister of labor and social development.

Lt. Gen. Fayad Al-Ruwaili, deputy chief of staff, has been promoted to general and appointed new chief of staff.

The service of the Chief of Staff Gen. Abdurahman Al-Bunyan was ended on retirement and he was appointed as adviser at the Royal Court.

Prince Faisal Bin Turki has been appointed as adviser at the Royal Court in the rank of minister and Prince Sultan Bin Ahmad as adviser at the Royal Court.

New ministers
Khaled Bayari -assistant minister of defense for executive affairs

Dr. Bandar Al-Mushari -assistant minister of interior for technical affairs

Ahmad Qattan -minister of state for the affairs of African states

Sheikh Saad Al-Saif -deputy minister of justice

Abdullah Abu Thunain -deputy minister of labor and social development

Faisal Al-Ibrahim, deputy minister of economy and planning

Khaled Al-Shunaif
i –assistant minister of economy and planning

Muhammad Al-Mohanna
new undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior for security affairs, replacing Hamad Al-Khalaf

Deputy Minister of Labor Ahmad Al-Humaidan was relieved

Deputy Minister of Interior and Member of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs Ahmad Bin Muhammad Al-Salem was relieved of his duties.

Muhammad Al-Mutairi – new secretary general of the Shoura Council

Adnan Al-Humaidan -new president of Jeddah University

Shalaan Bin Rajih Shalaan, deputy public prosecutor

Abdul Aziz Al-Zoum – governor of General Authority for Competition

Mayors
Tariq Al-Faris -Riyadh region

Muhammad Al-Quwaihes –Makkah, replacing Osama Al-Bar

Reshuffle of defense forces command
The King made major reshuffles at the command of the defense forces. These include the following:

Lt. Gen. Muhammad Suhaim, commander of the Air Defense Forces, ordered to retire.

Lt. Gen. Fahd Bin Turki, commander of the Land Forces, relieved of the post and was appointed as commander of the Joint Forces.

Maj. Gen. Mutlaq Al-Azaimie promoted to Lt. Gen. and appointed as deputy chief of staff.

Maj. Gen. Jarallah Al-Olwait promoted to Lt. Gen. and appointed as commander of the Strategic Missiles Force.

Maj. Gen. Fahd Al-Mutair promoted to Lt. Gen. and appointed as commander of the Land Forces.

Maj. Gen. Muzaid Al-Amr promoted to Lt. Gen. and appointed as commander of Air Defense Forces.

Maj. Gen. Turki Bin Bandar promoted to Lt. Gen. and appointed as commander of the Air Forces.

Link


Arabia
Saudi clerics want curbs on women praying at Kaaba
2006-08-29
Saudi clerics want to impose restrictions on women praying at Islam's holiest shrine in Makkah.
"Eeeeewwwww! Women! Ucky!"
But women activists in Saudi Arabia say the idea is discriminatory and have vowed to oppose it.
"We're ag'in it!"
At present, women can pray in the immediate vicinity of the Kaaba. Plans by the all-male committee overseeing the holy sites would place women in a distant section of the mosque while men would still be able to pray in the key space.
"How distant?"
"How distant is Jakarta?"
"The area is very small and so crowded. So we decided to get women out of the sahn [Kaaba area] to a better place where they can see the Kaaba and have more space," said Osama Al Bar, head of the Institute for Haj Research.
"Yeah. We're just doin' it to make the little darlin's happy."
"Some women thought it wasn't good, but from our point of view it will be better for them ... We can sit with them and explain to them what the decision is [about]," he said. The decision is not final and could be reversed, he added.
Link


Arabia
Saudis seek Fatwa on stoning devil
2006-01-18
Al-aska Paul, are you up to this?
SAUDI authorities are looking for Fatwa from scholars around the world concerning working out a new method for the symbolic stoning of the devil.

In a bid to avoid any deadly stampedes in future, the latest of which claimed the lives of 363 people last week, the authorities also unveiled plans to replace the current Jamarat passage with a 10-level structure, to ensure the safety of pilgrims on this site where incidents over the years marred one of the five pillars of Islam.
"Step right up! New and improved stoning of the devil to your right! Devil-stoning stones, SR1 each. Show us how holy you are, and don't throw like girls!"
According to Maj-Gen Eng. Mansour Al Turki, spokesman of the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the planned 10 levels would be built in the next 10 years. The first four will be completed within the next two years. Workers have reportedly begun work soon after the last day of Haj, tearing down a platform at the Jamarat on orders from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in order to rebuild it with better access to prevent deadly stampedes.

The Al Jamarat platform, where three pillars representing the devil are located, will be rebuilt with one underground level and four 100-metre wide ramps that can accommodate 250,000 pilgrims per hour, said Osama Al Bar, Head of Haj Research Centre. There will be 12 entrances and 12 exits. The current site has just two levels, including one 80-metre wide ramp leading to a platform from which pilgrims pelt stones at the pillars.
They'll stone the devil from an underground level?
On Thursday, some 600,000 pilgrims were squeezed in at the ramp when about a dozen people stumbled over baggage, tripping others behind them and causing the deadly crush. The disaster happened as pilgrims flocked to the Jamarat Bridge in Mina to hurl stones at a pillar representing the devil.

He said the construction, which aims at both preventing accidents and accommodate the expected increase in pilgrims, would be completed within two years. Other improvements being made include multiple vehicle tunnels to facilitate traffic flow and a landing area for helicopters that might be required to rush in medical aid.

Haj Minister Fouad Al Farsy thanked King Abdullah for sanctioning the SR4 billion project. The first phase of the project , which is a four-floor facility, will allow 500,000 pilgrims to perform the ritual in one hour. This will accommodate three to five million pilgrims per year. This year around three million pilgrims performed haj.
Link



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