Saudi King appoints first female minister

Riyadh: Norah Al-Fayez has been appointed the deputy education minister for female education affairs in King Abdullah's Cabinet.

This is the most senior designation ever given to a woman in the kingdom.

Al-Fayez said, “It is very tough and I am happy to be given this post of deputy education minister. I hope to be a model and the future is good for other ladies to hold such post in coming years. I hope I can do well under as the minister of education.

Norah al-Fayez is currently an official at the Saudi institute for Public Administration.

The reshuffle also saw the head of the religious police and the central bank governor of 26 years being replaced.

The changes also include new education, justice, information and health ministers, a new leader of the consultative Shura council, and a new central bank chief.

The central bank governor Hamad Saud al-Sayyari was replaced with his deputy, Muhammad al-Jasser. The monarch also appointed Abdul-Aziz Khoja, who was ambassador to Lebanon, as information minister, replacing Iyad bin Amin Madani.

Sayyari had been at the helm of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the kingdom's central bank, since 1983 when he was appointed acting governor before being confirmed at the post two years later.

The reshuffle did not affect either of the key ministries of oil or finance, official sources said.

Saleh bin Humaid, who was speaker of the advisory Shura Council, was appointed head of the Supreme Judiciary Court and was replaced by the outgoing justice minister, Abdullah al-Sheikh.

Also named in the sweeping shakeup was a new head of the Muttawa religious police, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Humain who replaced sacked Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith.

The board of Muslim scholars was also expanded for the first time to include 21 members from all Sunni schools of thought.

King Abdullah also sacked two powerful religious officials, one of the dismissed men was the head of the controversial religious police force. The other was the country's most senior judge.

The cabinet reshuffle is the first to take place since King Abdullah took the throne in August 2005 following the death of King Fahd.