Saudi king dismisses 2 powerful religious figures

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has dismissed the head of the powerful religious police and a hard-line cleric who issued an edict last year that said it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that show "immoral" content.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has dismissed the head of the powerful religious police and a hard-line cleric who issued an edict last year that said it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that show "immoral" content.

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The dismissals are part of a surprise reshuffle in the Cabinet, the judiciary and the military.

The official Saudi Press Agency says Abdullah has ordered the removal of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith, head of the feared Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. He also ordered the removal of Sheikh Saleh al-Lihedan, chief of the kingdom's highest tribunal, the Supreme Council of Justice. Al-Lihedan's edict, issued in September, was denounced across the Arab world.