Saudi Arabia has replaced its veteran intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan "at his own request", an official television station in the kingdom announced Tuesday.

In a royal decree, the powerful official was replaced "at his own request" by his deputy, Yousef al-Idrissi, said Al-Ekhbariya, a government-run satellite channel.

Bandar was abroad for several months for health reasons, with diplomats saying he had been sidelined in Saudi efforts to support rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.