Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has reshuffled his cabinet and chosen the first-ever woman deputy-minister for the conservative monarchy, the government announced on Saturday.

The shakeup includes new education, justice and information ministers, a new supreme court chief and a new head of the consultative Shura council, along with the nomination of a deputy education minister for women's education, it said.

Norah al-Faiz became the first holder of the new position, the most senior ever granted to a woman in the Muslim kingdom.

Also named in the sweeping shakeup were a new central bank governor and a new head of the Muttawa religious police.

Mohammed al Jasser was chosen to be the new governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), promoted from vice-governor to replace Hamad Saud al-Sayyari.

The monarch named Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Humain as the new head of the notorious religious police after sacking Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith.

The cabinet reshuffle is the first to take place since King Abdullah took the throne in August 2005 following the death of his half-brother King Fahd.