Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat— The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia appointed Prince Khalid Bin Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the country’s new Minister of Education on Sunday.

A royal order published by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced that King Abdullah had today issued a royal order to appoint Prince Khalid as the new Education Minister to replace Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Saud of his post, who had requested to be relieved of his position.

Prince Khalid has been the Governor of the Mecca region since May 2007. He will be succeeded in that post by Prince Mishaal Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who has now been relieved of his position as Governor of Najran, a post he has occupied since April 2009.

Previously, Prince Khalid had served as the Governor of Asir since 1971, before taking over as Governor of Mecca.

The Mecca region includes Saudi Arabia’s second largest city, Jeddah, as well as the holy city of Mecca.