Jordan's king has security adviser form new Cabinet

Prime Minister Adnan Badran resigned Thursday in the wake of triple terrorist attack.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
abdullah 88 (photo credit: )
abdullah 88
(photo credit: )
Jordan's King Abdullah II appointed his national security adviser as prime minister Thursday, asking him to form a new government in the wake of the Amman hotel bombings, a top government official said. The prime minister designate is Marouf al-Bakhit, who was Jordan's ambassador to Israel until appointed to head the national security council six days after the bombings. Prime Minister Adnan Badran resigned earlier Thursday, the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press. The official Petra news agency confirmed Badran's resignation, saying the prime minister, who took office in April, had tendered his Cabinet's resignation to the king in a meeting earlier Thursday. Petra reported that the king had accepted the government's resignation. The change of government is part of general shake-up following the suicide-bombings of three Amman hotels on November 9, which killed 63 people, including the bombers, and wounded hundreds. The blasts harmed Jordan's reputation as one of the most stable countries in the Middle East. Al-Bakhit was appointed November 15 to head the national security council, a post that entails liasing between the king and the security services. Government officials said the king may have chosen al-Bakhit owing to his reputation as a tough former general who ran a southern Jordanian university that trains army and police recruits.