Jordan's new cabinet sworn in

www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-08 01:16:52

AMMAN, April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- A new Jordan's cabinet was sworn in Thursday to push forward political, economic and social reforms in the country, the official Petra News Agency reported.

The cabinet, headed by 69-year-old academic Adnan Badran, was sworn in before King Abdullah II.

Badran, also minister of defense, formed a 25-minister cabinet including four women, and kept 12 members of the former government of Faisal al-Fayez.

Farouq Al Qasrawi became the new foreign minister to replace Hani Mulqi who took the position only six months ago.

Meanwhile, a strongman emerging from the new government is Finance Minister Bassem Awadallah who had served as minister of planning and international cooperation since October 2001.

King Abdullah II on Tuesday called upon the newly-named prime minister to form a cabinet to push forward reforms.

In the letter of appointment, the king called upon the new government to accelerate the pace of reforms and institutionalize the political, economic and social reform process.

Earlier in the day, outgoing Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez submitted his resignation and was appointed as chief of the Royal Court.

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