New Faces in Riyadh

On 28 July King Fahd issued eight decrees which heralded the most extensive changes in Saudi Arabia's government for two decades. Three cabinet posts were reshuffled and 15 new ministers appointed. The cabinet changes were announced on 2 August, a week after some 150 senior official posts were reshuffled. Coming soon after cabinet changes in Bahrain and the change of ruler in Qatar, the Saudi move has been interpreted in some quarters as heralding the arrival in power in the GCC of a new generation of educated technocrats.