Saudi King decrees half brother Muqrin to be future monarch

March 28, 2014

Riyadh, Mar 28: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has appointed his half-brother and country's former intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz as the deputy crown prince, paving the way for him to become a future monarch.

"Prince Muqrin will receive oath of allegiance as crown prince in case the position becomes vacant, and as king in case the positions of king and crown prince become vacant," a royal decree issued by King Abdullah said yesterday.

Prince Muqrin, 68, the second deputy premier, is the youngest son of the Kingdom's founder King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud.

The appointment makes him the next in line to ascend the Saudi throne after 89-year-old King Abdullah and 78-year-old Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, the Arab News reported. King Abdullah ascended the throne on August 1, 2005, upon the death of his half-brother King Fahd.

King Abdullah has emphasised that nobody would be allowed to change the appointment of Prince Muqrin as deputy to the crown prince or replace him since the Allegiance Council, the body responsible for determining future succession to the throne of Saudi Arabia, has approved his new appointment.

He said both himself and Crown Prince Salman signed a document to this effect on March 20.King Abdullah said the royal decree was issued to strengthen the Kingdom's unity and stability."The members of the Allegiance Council expressed their opinion on the appointment of Prince Muqrin as deputy crown prince upon consent from both myself and Crown Prince Salman," said King Abdullah. He said the majority of members, which exceed three-quarters of those present, backed the appointment.

King Abdullah said Prince Muqrin would continue in his present position as second deputy premier.

The decree also stated that the king would have the right to propose his candidate to the Allegiance Council in future if he wanted to appoint a deputy crown prince and issue a royal decree for that appointment following the council's approval.

Prince Muqrin has held many important positions in the government, including director of intelligence and governor of Hail and Madinah.

He graduated with a degree in aeronautics from the Britain's RAF College in Cranwell in 1968 and also acquired a master's degree in military sciences.

He has also served in several positions in the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) until 1980, when he was appointed as the governor of Hail.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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