JEDDAH – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah issued on Wednesday a number of royal orders appointing new deputy minister of defense and emir of Riyadh, and making key changes at the helm of military affairs. Riyadh Emir Prince Khaled Bin Bandar has been appointed deputy minister of defense, replacing Prince Salman Bin Sultan. Riyadh Deputy Emir Prince Turki Bin Abdullah is the new emir of the capital city. Muhammad Bin Abdullah Al-Aish has been appointed assistant minister of defense, the Saudi Press Agency reported. According to a royal order, Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Salman Bin Sultan was relieved of his post upon his request. In a major reshuffle at the top hierarchy of the Kingdom's military forces, King Abdullah appointed Gen. Abdurahman Al-Bunyan as the new chief of General Staff. As per a royal decree, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hussein Al-Qabil has been sent to retirement. Lt. Gen. Al-Bunyan, deputy chief of General Staff, has been promoted to the rank of general and appointed as the new chief of General Staff. Lt. Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili, commander of Air Forces, was appointed deputy chief of General Staff. Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Shallan, deputy commander of Air Forces, has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed as commander of the Air Forces. The King's decree also sends Lt. Gen. Dakheelallah Al-Waqdani, commander of the Naval Forces, to retirement. Maj. Gen Abdullah Al-Sultan, deputy commander of the Naval Forces, has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, appointing him as commander of the Naval Forces. Prince Khaled Bin Bandar, former high ranking military officer and commander of the Royal Saudi Land Forces, is going to take over the post of deputy minister of defense after serving as emir of Riyadh for nearly 15 months. He was appointed as emir of Riyadh on 14 Feb. 2013 following the death of Emir Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz. Prince Khaled was graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst of UK and did graduation in an advanced course on armors and a technical course on maintenance in US. Prince Turki Bin Abdullah was appointed as deputy emir of Riyadh in February 2013, replacing Prince Muhammad Bin Saad. Born on Oct. 21, 1971, he was enrolled at King Faisal Air Force Academy and later graduated from a preparatory course and an aviation course at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel pilot and worked at the King Abdul Aziz Air Base in Dhahran as the commander of Squadron 92, 3rd air wing with a rank of group captain. Prince Turki is the head of the board of directors of the Saudi Equestrian Fund.
