Demotion : The real reasons for the humiliation of Saudi Arabia's foreign minister

Saudi Arabia's erstwhile foreign minister, Adel el-Jubeir

Saudi Arabia is yet to recover from the embarrassment caused by the brutal murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi at its Istanbul embassy. Now, in a clumsy attempt to paper over the horror felt by many as a result of the assassination, the kingdom's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has been demoted in a reshuffle by the country's leader, King Salman. Here, it appears a clear message is being sent.

The chances are that Mr Jubeir knew nothing about the murder. Technically, however, all embassies come under the foreign ministry. Therefore, the foreign minister is answerable for anything that happens in any of the embassies. So, it is plausible for el-Jubeir to be held accountable for what happened in Instanbul.

Hence, something needed to be seen to be done.



Mr Jubeir will now become minister of state for foreign affairs.

What makes the new posting even more humiliating is the fact that Ibrahim al-Assaf who is taking over as foreign minister is a finance man with little experience in international relations.

There are also reports that al-Jubeir was always seen as a "leftover from former King Abdullah era." King Abdullah, you may recall, was the late Saudi monarch. He died in 2015.

It would appear then that the former foreign minister has been sacrificed as scapegoat in the Khashoggi issue.

Surprisingly, in the reshuffle, Prince Mohammed was able to retain his political and security positions, including that of defence minster.