WUNRN
King
appoints Noor Al-Fayez as Deputy Minister for Women's Education
(CNN) -- Saudi King Abdullah has appointed a woman to the council of
ministers for the first time as part of a Cabinet reshuffle, networks including
Saudi state-run Channel One reported Saturday.
Saudi King Abdullah has appointed a woman to his council of ministers for
the first time.
King Abdullah announced a new
supreme court chief, minister of health, justice minister and information
minister as part of the reshuffling, according to Channel One.
King Abdullah appointed Noor Al-Fayez to the Saudi Council of
Ministers. She will serve in a new position as deputy minister for women's
education.
"I'm very proud to be nominated and selected for such a
prestigious position," Al-Faiz told CNN on Saturday. "I hope that
other ladies, females, will follow in the future."
"People are very excited about this," said Khaled
Al-Maeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News, an English-language daily newspaper in
Saudi Arabia. "This sends a clear signal that the King means business.
Instead of appointing some bureaucrat, he appointed a woman."
Jamal Khashoggi, editor-in-chief of the Al-Watan Daily
newspaper, told CNN the reshuffle signals a major change in his country.
"This is a huge step forward, in education, women's
place in society," said Khashoggi.
Al-Faiz said she's confident she won't just be a token member
of the council.
"I think by being the second person after the minister,
I think I have enough power to work in the improvement of girls'
education," she said.
The new appointments are the largest council shakeup since
King Abdullah took power in 2005.
Maeena also said the other new appointments by King Abdullah
were very "progressive" moves.
Some other new appointments were:
· Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed, new
minister of education
· Faisal Al-Moammar, new deputy minister of
education
· Sheikh Mohammed Al-Isa, new minister of
justice
· Abdulaziz Al-Khowja, new minster of culture
and information
· Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, new minister of
health
· Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Humain, new head of the
Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com.
Thank you.