RIYADH, Saudi Arabia _ Saudi Arabia's King Salman removed one of the royal family's most prominent princes as head of the powerful National Guard and arrested other royals in sweeping changes to the ruling structure of the kingdom.
Among the changes was the appointment of a former HSBC Holding Plc banker to head the economy ministry. A separate announcement late Saturday revealed that 11 princes, four ministers and dozens of former ministers were arrested on orders of an anti-corruption committee, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said. The newly formed committee is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king's son.
"Laws will be applied firmly on everyone who touched public money and didn't protect it or embezzled it, or abused their power and influence," King Salman said in comments shown on state TV. "This will be applied on those big and small, and we will fear no one."
Prince Miteb, son of the late King Abdullah, was replaced as minister of the National Guard by Prince Khaled Ayyaf, according to a royal decree. Before his ouster, Prince Miteb was one of the few remaining senior princes to have survived a series of Cabinet reshuffles that promoted allies of the crown prince, who is the king's son and heir to the throne.
King Salman had already sidelined other senior members of the royal family to prevent any opposition to the crown prince, Prince Mohammed, 32, who replaced his elder cousin, Muhammed bin Nayef, in June. That maneuver removed any doubt of how succession plans will unfold following the reign of King Salman, now 81.
Changing the head of the National Guard, an institution that's been controlled by the clan of the late King Abdullah, "is not like changing the minister of oil," said Kamran Bokhari, a senior analyst with Geopolitical Futures and a senior fellow with the Center for Global Policy. "I wouldn't be surprised if this leads to greater fissures within the royal family."
Saudi Arabia, while never a democracy, had been governed for decades by a loose consensus among an extended royal family, who had control over different government agencies.
Now, Crown Prince Mohammed has emerged as the dominant figure in the desert kingdom. He controls almost all the levers of government, from the Defense Ministry to the central bank and the oil giant Aramco, which bankrolls the country. He's also announced radical plans to sell state businesses, cut the public payroll and step up a regional power struggle against Iran.
The king also replaced Economy and Planning Minister Adel Fakeih with Mohammad Al Tuwaijri, his deputy.
Al Tuwaijri, formerly vice minister for economy and planning, had already played a key role in shaping Saudi economic and fiscal policy over the past year. Before joining the government in May 2016, he was Middle East chief executive for HSBC. He's served as a frequent spokesman for the government's economic reform plan on TV and with Western journalists.
King Salman also issued a decree forming an anti-corruption committee headed by the crown prince. Its powers include the ability to trace funds and assets, and prevent their transfer or liquidation on behalf of individuals or entities, along with the right to take any precautionary actions until cases are referred to relevant investigatory or judiciary authorities, according to a government statement.
The committee's formation was deemed necessary "due to the propensity of some people for abuse, putting their personal interest above public interest, and stealing public funds," the Royal Order said.
