Jordan's Cabinet Reshuffle Includes 9 Portfolios

Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh speaks during a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh speaks during a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Jordan's Cabinet Reshuffle Includes 9 Portfolios

Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh speaks during a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh speaks during a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh announced on Monday a fourth government reshuffle that included nine ministerial portfolios.

According to a royal decree, Dr. Wajih Awais was appointed as Minister of Education, Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh was named Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, while Yousef Mahmoud Al-Shamali became the new Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply.

Faisal Yousef Awad Shboul was appointed as Minister of State for Information Affairs, Haifa Yousef Fadel Hajjar Al-Najjar, Minister of Culture, and Wafaa Saeed Yaqoub Bani Mustafa, Minister of State for Legal Affairs.

The Jordanian prime minister also named Dr. Muawiya Khaled Muhammad Al-Radaydah as Minister of Environment, Eng. Khairy Yasser Abdel Moneim Amr, Minister of Investment and Nayef Istitieh, Minister of Labor.

Al-Khasawneh had asked his ministers on Sunday to submit their resignations ahead of the cabinet reshuffle, in parallel with the government’s preparations to face the Parliament with the launching of its upcoming regular session in mid-November.

Shboul, the new minister of State for Information Affairs, succeeded to Sakhr Dodin, whose statements over the past few months sparked local controversy, and wide comments.

Shboul has extensive experience in the local and Arab press and had assumed senior positions in the Jordan News Agency (Petra) and the Radio Television Corporation over the past twenty years. He was also a media spokesperson at a number of summits hosted by Amman.

Bisher Al-Khasawneh was designated to form the government around a year ago. He previously assumed a position at the office of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, following a diplomatic experience as the kingdom’s ambassador to Cairo and Paris.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.