A royal decree cited by the official SPA news agency said the decision was taken at the request of Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who also holds the defence portfolio.

The reasons for the move were not immediately known, and no successor was announced for Prince Khaled, who was named to the post on May 14.

Prince Khaled,  son of Prince Bandar, one of the eldest surviving sons the founder of the kingdom, was the governor of the Riyadh region, a position he has occupied since February 2013.

Saturday’s move comes amid fears in Saudi Arabia of a spillover of the violence in neighbouring Iraq from a Sunni militant offensive in the Shiite-majority country.

On Thursday, King Abdullah instructed authorities in the oil-rich kingdom to take “necessary measures” to defend it from jihadists battling the Baghdad government.

/AFP

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