Saudi king sacks senior aide for photographer `slap`

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia`s King Salman sacked a senior aide on Tuesday, shortly after a video posted online appeared to show the official slapping a photojournalist, state media said.

Salman replaced the head of royal protocol Mohammed al-Tobayshi with Khalid al-Abbad, according to a decree published by the SPA official news agency.

In a video circulated on social media, Tobayshi appeared to slap one of the photographers covering the Saudi monarch`s reception of Morocco`s King Mohammed VI.

The swift decision was welcomed by Saudis on social networks.

"This is decisive Salman," wrote journalist Saud al-Murshid on his Twitter account, alluding to the Saudi-led military operation against Shiite rebels in Yemen, dubbed Operation Decisive Storm.