Saudi interior minister named crown prince

S ARABIA: Saudi Arabia's powerful interior minister, 78-year-old Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, was named the new heir to the throne in a royal decree read out on state television Thursday.

Nayef, who has been interior minister for nearly four decades and led a crackdown on Al-Qaeda in the kingdom, succeeds prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who died last week in New York and was buried Tuesday in Riyadh.

The decree called on King Abdullah's inner circle to recognise Nayef's new status.

AFP