In a statement, Zain Saudi confirmed that Curley had resigned on Sunday for personal reasons.
Kabbani has previous experience in the Middle East region, having served as CEO at Egyptian operator Mobinil.
Prior to joining Zain Saudi, he served as a board member and advisor to Oger Telecom in Dubai, which holds controlling stakes in Turk Telekom and Cell C.
Kabbani will be tasked with helping Zain Saudi gain ground on rivals STC and Mobily in the Saudi mobile market.
Zain Saudi was reported to have just a 16% share of the kingdom’s active mobile subscribers by the end of 2012.
In July, the company was granted a five-year extension on its outstanding $2.3 billion Islamic loan.
The move saw the lossmaking operator convert a $2.4 billion Islamic loan to a payback facility, with a portion of this reportedly paid from internal resources.