Saudi king appoints nephew as new crown prince

Dubai: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz on Wednesday sacked his younger half brother as crown prince and appointed his nephew, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as the new heir apparent, state television said.

He also appointed his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as deputy crown prince, and replaced veteran Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal with



the kingdom's Washington ambassador Adel al-Jubeir.

He also appointed Khalid al-Falih as the country's Health Minister and chairman of Saudi Aramco, state television said.

Mr. Falih was the chief executive of state oil giant Saudi Aramco. A replacement for him as head of the company was not immediately named.