This special report provides a press survey following the announcement this weekend of changes among Saudi government officials.

Major Reshuffle in Saudi Arabia [Feb 14] - BBC
"King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has sacked two powerful religious officials in a wide ranging shake-up of the cabinet and other government posts. One of the dismissed men was the head of the controversial religious police force. The other was the country's most senior judge. The king also appointed the country's first-ever female minister and replaced the head of the central bank. Correspondents say such government reshuffles are rare in Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005, has for a long time had the reputation of a reformer - and the latest appointments have the makings of one of the biggest shake-ups in Saudi public life for many years.. ..The shake-up also affected the feared religious police organisation, known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith has lost his job as head of the commission, which enforces Saudi Arabia's conservative brand of Islam, Wahhabism.. ..our correspondent says the religious police have been widely criticised recently over allegations of brutality - the kind of comments that could never have been made publicly a few years ago.." [more]

Saudi Arabia Replaces Head of Central Bank [Feb 14] - WSJ
"Saudi Arabia named Muhammad al-Jasser as its new central-bank governor on Saturday in a government reshuffle that saw the appointment of the first woman to a cabinet-level position in the kingdom. Mr. al-Jasser replaces Hamad Al Sayyari, the longest serving central banker in the Gulf, to head the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, an authority that controls monetary policy in the kingdom and oversees its vast foreign assets estimated to be worth in excess of $500 billion.. ..King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's ruler, has decided to introduce new leadership at SAMA as the kingdom prepares to adjust to the twin challenges of lower oil prices and the global economic crisis. Mr. al-Jasser attended San Diego State University, according to a profile on the CEO World magazine Web site. Prior to joining SAMA in 1995 as deputy governor, Mr. al-Jasser held a number of positions in the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF, according to the Web site. He didn't return calls Saturday seeking comment. Investors on the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, were optimistic about the change in management at the top of SAMA.." [more]

Saudi Woman Becomes Deputy Minister [Feb 14] - Al Jazeera
"Saudi Arabia has named a woman as deputy minister for education - the most senior role ever held by a female in the kingdom.  Norah al-Faiz, currently an official at the Saudi Institute for Public Administration, was named as the deputy minister responsible for women's education as part of a reshuffle of the cabinet, military and judiciary on Saturday.. ..The reshuffle, King Abdullah's first since he took power following the the death of his half-brother in 2005, also saw new education, justice and information ministers appointed. 'This is a turning point. It is the biggest change that happened in this country in 20 years,' Mohammad al-Zulfa, a member of Saudi Arabia's Shura council, told the AFP news agency. 'It is a new start for King Abdullah. People are expecting changes,' he said. 'These are new faces who can bring change.'.." [more]

Development of Judiciary Top Priority [Feb 15] - Saudi Gazette
"Muhammad Bin Abul Karim Al-Issa, the new Minister of Justice, has described the greatest challenges and concerns facing him in his new office as the development of the judiciary and its facilities, and the implementation of a modern system for which the state has allocated seven billion riyals. Al-Issa, speaking Saturday to Okaz, said he was fully aware of the difficulties faced by the public and their demands to have their cases resolved, as well as a shortage of official judges in some of the more remote regions. He promised to accord top priorities to all these issues.." [more]

Changes Aim to Inject New Blood Into Administration [Feb 15] - Gulf News
"Tipped to be the largest ever shake up in the administrative and judicial sectors made by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, four ministers and heads of the powerful religious police and judicial bodies were dismissed on Saturday.. ..Commenting on the king's reshuffle, Dr Naif Al Shamri, professor of political science at King Saud University, told Gulf News that these changes were aimed at injecting new blood into Saudi government to enable it to meet the requirements in the nation building and its march forward to become more prosperous. He also noted that the Senior Scholars Commission, which had hitherto been represented only by those representing Hanbali school of thought, has been revamped to accommodate all Sunni schools of thought.." [more]

New Woman Minister Cracks Saudi Glass Ceiling [Feb 15] - AFP
"Norah al-Fayez, the first woman ever named to a ministerial post in Saudi Arabia, has put a crack in the thick glass ceiling that the country's strict version of Islam sets against her gender. The veteran administrator was named to the new post of deputy education minister for women's education as part of a sweeping shakeup of the government announced Saturday by the country's reform-minded absolute monarch King Abdullah. 'This is a successful step. We've always suffered from having a man occupy the position' overseeing women's education, the English-language Arab News newspaper quoted her as saying. 'A woman knows what problems and challenges her peers face. It's a change for the better,' she said. Leading Saudi women's rights activist and academic Hatoon al-Fassi said that she was very happy about Fayez's appointment although this step was not enough. 'One woman is not enough, what will one woman do alone in a crowd of men,' Fassi told AFP. 'Her decisions will not be effective or tangible, but it is a step in the right direction.'.." [more]

Religious Hard-Liners Take a Hit in King's Reshuffle [Feb 15] - RFI
"King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has fired a number of religious hard-liners from top posts in Saudi Arabia and appointed the country's first-ever woman minister. The chief of the religious police, the head of the top Islamic clerics' body and the head of the highest tribunal have all been replaced. "His Majesty has announced last year that he wanted to reform the judiciary system and his decision was resisted," points out Ibrahim Mugaiteeb of the Human Rights First Society, who dubs the reshuffle 'a small earthquake' but hopes that more reforms will follow.." [more]