Saudi King Fires Senior Aide After Video Shows Him Slap Photojournalist
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 5 (UPI) — The Saudi Arabian king sacked his chief of royal protocols after video appeared to show him slapping a photojournalist at Riyadh airport on Sunday.
Without elaborating, Saudi state news on Tuesday reported: “A royal order was issued on Monday relieving Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Tobaishi of his job as chief of the royal protocols.”
The move comes two days after video showed al-Tobaishi, who stood in the background as Saudi Arabia’s King Salman greeted Morocco’s King Mohammed, appear to slap a photographer.
The video went viral online and prompted widespread condemnation of al-Tobaishi, who, according to Saudi media, had previously been fired from the same position by the late King Abdullah but was reinstated in 2013.
Monday’s decree was “a clear consolidation of the status of the media and a victory for journalism,” journalist Abdullah Al Bergawi told Gulf News.
Last month, King Salman replaced the kingdom’s health minister for arguing publicly with a citizen over Riyadh’s hospital conditions and barred a prince in the royal family from sports activities and media statements after he reportedly made racist remarks on a live talk show on Saudi Sports Television.
According to Saudi state news, Khalid bin Saleh al-Abbad will succeed al-Tobaishi as chief of royal protocols.
