Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has thanked former Crown Prince Muqrin in a letter for his service to the nation, a day after a royal decree announcing the appointment of Prince Mohammad bin Naif as the new crown prince.

In the letter, the king said: “We have received your resignation request in which feelings of loyalty and true brotherhood are evident.”

King Salman commended Prince Muqrin for his years of service: “You have spent more than half a century serving your nation.”

He said: “We take pride in your efforts and tenure.”

In a separate letter, King Salman also thanked former Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who had been in his post for almost 40 years.

In a cable to Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the king replied in answer to the former foreign minister’s request to be relieved of his duties, that it “was one of the most difficult and hard matters,” the SPA reported on Friday.

In the cable, the king said he only answered Prince Saud’s request after “repeated insistence,” adding that the former foreign minister would be “close to him and to the work Prince Saud Al-Faisal loved and worked hard for.”

King Salman acknowledged that Prince Saud’s request included feelings of “sincere loyalty to his religion, king and homeland.”

The king had relieved Prince Saud of his duties, upon his request, earlier this week in a major government reshuffle that saw the appointment of Adel Al-Jubeir as new foreign minister.

King Salman hailed Prince Saud’s career, which spanned 40 years.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal was appointed to his post in 1975 and is reportedly the world’s longest-serving foreign minister.

In his tenure, he witnessed the Israeli invasions of Lebanon in 1978, 1982 and 2006, the Palestinian intifadas that erupted in 1987 and 2000, Iraq invading Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990, and the US-led coalition’s occupation of Iraq in 2003.

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