Islam Times - Saudi king sacks deputy defense minister

Islam Times - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Saturday sacked the deputy defense minister, Prince Khaled bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz, just a month and a half after appointing him.

A royal decree cited by the official SPA news agency said the decision was taken at the request of Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who also holds the defense portfolio.

The reasons for the move were not immediately known, and no successor was announced for Prince Khaled, who was named to the post on May 14.

Saturday's move comes amid fears in Saudi Arabia of a spillover of the violence in neighboring Iraq from a Sunni militant offensive in the Shiite-majority country.

On Thursday, King Abdullah instructed authorities in the oil-rich kingdom to take "necessary measures" to defend it from Wahhabi militants battling the Baghdad government.