Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — In a surprise move, Saudi King Abdullah has replaced the
veritable director of the military.

The king dismissed Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid Bin Sultan, who
served in the post for more than 11 years. Khalid, whose father rose to
crown prince before dying in 2012, was replaced by Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah,
Navy commander since 2002.

Khalid was replaced three days before the arrival of U.S. Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel to Riyad. Hagel was scheduled to discuss an estimated $5 billion arms sale to the Gulf Cooperation Council state.

The statement did not explain the dismissal of Khalid, who led the
military during the 1991 war in the Gulf. Western diplomats said Khalid was the de facto defense minister amid the deterioration of his father, Sultan, over the last seven years.

“The custodian of the two holy mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al
Saud issued today a royal order relieving Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin
Abdul Aziz, deputy defense minister of his post and appointing Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud, as deputy defense minister at the rank of minister,” the official Saudi Press Agency said on April 20.

In June 2012, Sultan died and was replaced by Prince Salman, who also
became crown prince. But the diplomats said Salman was suffering from
dementia and could no longer function.

The appointment of Fahd marked the second of the younger princes to
reach a senior Cabinet post. In November 2012, Abdullah
selected Prince Mohammed as interior minister and head of the kingdom’s
security policy.

Over the last year, the diplomats reported increasing dissatisfaction by
Abdullah of Khalid. They said sources in the royal court asserted that the
king blamed Khalid for the military’s poor performance in the war against Shi’ite
rebels along the Yemeni border in 2009 as well as extravagant arms deals
with the United States in 2011.

  King Abdullah, Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan, Saudi king replaces acting defense chief, Shi’ite rebels