Riyadh, April 16 (IANS) Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud Tuesday relieved Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz of his post as chief of general intelligence, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
After the prince reportedly requested to leave the position, the king replaced him with a member of the general staff, Yousef al-Idrissi, who is now assigned to act as chief of general intelligence, according to Xinhua.
The former intelligence head was appointed in July 2012, and has been residing abroad for the last few months after undergoing a shoulder surgery in America.
Prince Bandar was born in 1949 and spent 22 years of his career from 1983 to 2005 as the Saudi ambassador in Washington. He is the son of the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the former Saudi crown prince.