Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a royal decree that allows the cabinet to convene in the absence of both himself and the prime minister, his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, state media reported on Thursday.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired a virtual cabinet meeting from his office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 28, 2024. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via Reuters
Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a royal decree that allows the cabinet to convene in the absence of both himself and the prime minister, his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, state media reported on Thursday.
The 88-year-old king of the world's biggest oil exporter, and a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, received medical care for lung inflammation in May that prompted Prince Mohammed to later postpone an official visit to Japan due to the king's health.
The king chaired a cabinet meeting a week later, with state TV broadcasting footage of him leading the meeting via video conference.
Prince Mohammed, 38, has been the de facto ruler of the OPEC leading country since his father named him as heir in 2017, in a move that cut hundreds of veteran princes out of the line of succession and tore up the unwritten rules of the ruling family's dynastic politics.
The king named him prime minister in 2022.
In the absence of the king, the crown prince or his deputies, the cabinet would be chaired by the eldest member of the cabinet who is a descendant of Salman's father, founding King Abdulaziz Al Saud. Cabinet decisions issued would be signed by the chairman, the royal decree added.
The cabinet includes two of King Salman's sons, Defence Minister Prince Khalid and Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz.
Reporting by Nayera Abdallah
French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Lebanon on Friday, marking the first visit by a foreign head of state since the election of Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, according to an announcement from the Lebanese presidency on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday laid out plans for the post-war management of Gaza, saying the outgoing Biden administration would hand over the roadmap to President-elect Donald Trump's team to pick up if a ceasefire deal is reached.
Saudi budget airline flyadeal is putting the finishing touches to a deal to order 10 Airbus A330neo jets in its first full-blown expansion into wide-body planes, as the kingdom pursues a surge of spending on aviation, industry sources said on Tuesday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.