Saudi king starts with Mini Revolution For the sake of Kufr

Saudi King Abdullah's first reshuffle since ascending to the throne, including a shakeup of the powerful religious establishment, is seen by pro-western experts as a "bold step" towards change and reform in the kingdom.

"The objective is very clear: to reduce the influence of the religious establishment over the legal and educational systems," Mustafa Alani, of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, told Reuters on Monday, February 16.

King Abdullah announced on Saturday, February 14, the first major government reshuffle since assuming the throne in August 2005.

He replaced the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, accused by many of blocking reforms for years, and the head of the powerful religious police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

The shakeup also included new appointments in the influential Ulema Council and new 79 members in the consultative Shura Council.

"It is to implement a reform vision that couldn't be implemented with the old guard, especially in the religious institutions," Alani said.

The appointments have the makings of one of the biggest shakeups in Saudi public life in decades.

"We are witnessing a mini-revolution."

Saudi reformists hailed the changes, which promote some relatively young officials, as an overdue symbol of seriousness.

"The king's men have taken charge of reform," says Jamal Khashoggi, editor of al-Watan newspaper.

"Many of them are the ones who wrote the blueprints for it in the last five years."

Experts believe that the major shakeup was induced by alarm bells recently rung by the West.

"The judicial sector had begun to embarrass the government, especially in the outside world," says Fahd al-Shaafi, a Saudi political analyst.

"It was hard to deal with because religious doctrine and political legitimacy are so intertwined here."

The UN Human Rights Council turned an unwelcome spotlight on Saudi Arabia in Geneva this month.

"The quizzing of Saudis in Geneva has rung alarm bells with the establishment on the scale of problems they may confront when the new US administration takes a closer look at how it can deal with Saudi Arabia," a Western diplomat told Reuters.

Note: he UN Human Rights Council spotlight on Saudi Arabia is because justified strong actions against immoral dirty behaviour like prostitution, homosexuality, etc.. And not for oppression done of Muslims because of there religion, or for scholars locked in dungeons. Saudi King like we all are well known of, serves his masters of the west, instead of upholding the Quran, Sunnah and Islamic Shariah.