In the 4½ months since King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud ascended to the throne in Saudi Arabia, he has made profound changes in the leadership of the kingdom. He has removed King Abdullah’s choice for crown prince in favor of a younger prince, replaced the longest serving foreign minister in the world, streamlined decision-making and created two powerful committees to oversee defense and economic issues. Most of all, he has promoted his 29-year-old son to be minister of defense and given Prince Mohammed bin Salman command of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. The changes mark a generational shift in power from the generation of princes who took the kingdom from a desolate, poor and isolated outback in the Arabian Peninsula and made it into a global energy giant and the most powerful state in the Arab world to a new royal generation that has grown up with incredible wealth and power.
Not surprisingly, there is intense speculation in and out of the kingdom about what may come next. Does the king plan more changes in the royal family’s leadership and power structure? In the kingdom’s fellow monarchies, Jordan and the Gulf states, there is much quiet speculation that King Abdullah’s favorite son, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who is minister for the National Guard, may be next to go. The New York Times reported that Mutaib’s aides suspect he may be replaced by Salman. Others have suggested the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) might be reorganized or placed under the control of the Defense Ministry.
SANG has been the private base for Abdullah’s branch of the royal family since Abdullah became its commander in 1962. He kept command until November 2010 when he appointed Mutaib to replace him. It has always been independent of the regular armed forces and the Ministry of Defense. It functions as an elite praetorian guard for the kingdom to ensure against coups and domestic unrest. It is deployed around Riyadh, the oil-rich eastern province and other key installations. SANG troops are deployed in Bahrain to help prop up the minority Sunni monarchy on the island.
SANG has been trained by Americans since 1975 and is well equipped with armored vehicles. It also oversees a tribal militia system to ensure the tribes' loyalty to the family. The trained cadre of the SANG numbers about 100,000 men.
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