In a series of decrees on 14 May, King Abdullah made a number of changes at the defence ministry, apparently at the request of Crown Prince Salman. He removed Salman Bin Sultan as deputy minister of defence and replaced him with Khalid Bin Bandar, the Riyadh governor.While there had been rumours for some time that Salman Bin Sultan would go, the timing of the announcement was unexpected, coming just after the close of a major regional defence conference attended by US defence secretary Chuck Hagel.
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