King Salman bin Abdulaziz has replaced Saudi Arabia's labor minister, state media reported on Friday, after recent statistics showed a rise in unemployment in the world's top oil exporter. In a royal decree read on state television, the king also reshuffled the country's top religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, and the Shura Council, which advises the government. State television said King Salman had appointed Ali bin Nasser al-Ghafis as labor minister to replace Mufrej al-Haqbani. The program had long been regarded as ineffective but received a new lease on life under former labor minister Adel Fakieh, who is now a leading figure in the kingdom's initiative to transform its oil-dependent economy. The king also changed the head of the country's consultative Shura Council and replaced several members of the assembly.

Source: Egypt Independent December 03, 2016 08:09 UTC