RIYADH, Oct 9: The Saudi government has notified rules for a succession council set up last year to handle matter of succession.

The new statute appears to ensure power lies with living sons of kingdom’s founder, allowing two-thirds of council to force out any ‘transgressing’prince.

Under a decree issued on Monday, the king detailed regulations governing the allegiance committee formed last year to choose future kings and crown princes.

The decree designates that the committee’s members must be the sons or grandsons of the kingdom’s founder Abdul Aziz bin Saud, who died in 1953. Accordingly membership of the committee will be limited to Abdul Aziz’s sons or a grandson of those who have died or are incapacitated, as well as one son each designated by the king and by the crown prince.

Last year’sstatement said that if the new council rejects a nominated crown prince, it may vote for one of three other princes the king nominates for the title. However the recently issued statute did not mention this.

The size of the committee is not known either. The new structure was being termed as important as many of the 44 sons of King Abdul Aziz were by now dead or aging and power could soon move onto the next generation of the Al-Saud family. With a number of grandsons of the late founder of the modern Saudi Arabia reportedly queuing up for the throne, the decree was seen to formalise the process so as to avoid any internal disputes.