AMMAN: A Cabinet reshuffle in the Jordanian government will aid the country’s modernization efforts and spur reforms recommended by the IMF, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh has said.
The newly reshuffled government held a session on Thursday, headed by Khasawneh, following the issuance of a royal decree approving the Cabinet reshuffle, Jordan’s News Agency (Petra) reported.
Khasawneh thanked the outgoing ministers for their efforts, stressing that all Cabinet members had worked in an “exceptional” atmosphere and assumed responsibility in difficult circumstances to serve the Hashemite leadership, Jordan and its people.
He congratulated the new ministers, said Petra.
The PM said that the earlier Cabinet accomplished many of its duties, under the King’s Letter of Designation to the government, including dealing with pandemic-related issues.
“The government was also formed in light of constitutional deadlines, after the end of the 8th Parliament’s tenure, and tasked the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to hold new parliamentary elections on their constitutional date,” he added.
The government also presented its first budget following an agreement with the IMF to speed up the pace of structural economic reforms. The government pledged to pursue structural reforms that revive the national economy, with a commitment to avoid imposing new taxes in any form.
Khasawneh said that the Cabinet was “proud” of its achievements in protecting Jordan’s economy, improving economic conditions, maintaining public finances and promoting monetary independence.
Referring to “great” achievements during Jordan’s first centenary, the prime minister said that the government has launched a comprehensive reform path along three main axes: Political, economic and public sector modernization.
The three modernization tracks will overlap and converge to make the comprehensive modernization endeavors “successful,” Khasawneh added.
Jordan Cabinet reshuffle to boost modernization, IMF reforms: PM
https://arab.news/p6h5s
Jordan Cabinet reshuffle to boost modernization, IMF reforms: PM
- Khasawneh hails ‘exceptional’ atmosphere, achievements of outgoing ministers
- Govt commits to structural changes amid sluggish economy
Libyan protesters demand prime minister quit as three ministers resign
- Some protesters tried to storm Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah's office, leaving one security force dead
- At least three ministers resigned in sympathy with the protesters, who want Dbeibah to resign
TRIPOLI: Hundreds of Libyan protesters called on Friday for the ouster of the internationally-recognized prime minister and his government said one security force member was killed when some protesters tried to storm his office.
At least three ministers resigned in sympathy with the protesters, who want Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah to quit. The demonstrators gathered in Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli, chanting slogans such as “The nation wants to topple the government” and “We want elections.”
They then marched to the main government building in the city center. “We won’t leave until he leaves,” one protester said.
The marchers carried pictures of Dbeibah, national security adviser Ibrahim Dbeibah and Interior Minister Emad Tarbulsi with their faces crossed out in red.
Dbeibah, who leads the divided country’s Government of National Unity, came to power through a UN-backed process in 2021. Planned elections failed to proceed that year because of disagreements among rival factions, and he has remained in power.
The government media platform said in a statement that one security member of its building protection force was killed, posting a video footage showing the building’s fence destroyed with rocks on the ground.
“Security forces thwarted an attempted storming of the Prime Minister’s Office by a group embedded among the demonstrators,” it said in the statement.
On Friday, businessman Wael Abdulhafed said: “We are (here) today to express our anger against Dbeibah and all those in the power for years now and (who) prevent elections. They must leave power.”
Calls for Dbeibah to resign increased after two rival armed groups clashed in the capital this week in the heaviest fighting in years. Eight civilians were killed, according to the United Nations.
Violence flared after the prime minister on Tuesday ordered the armed groups to be dismantled. Demonstrators have accused Dbeibah of failing to restore stability and of being complicit in the growing power of armed groups.
Economy and Trade Minister Mohamed Al-Hawij, Local Government Minister Badr Eddin Al-Tumi and Minister of Housing Abu Bakr Al-Ghawi resigned on Friday.
Militia leader Abdulghani Kikli, widely known as Ghaniwa, died in the clashes, which calmed on Wednesday after the government announced a ceasefire.
Libya has had little stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising ousted longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi. The country split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions, though an outbreak of major warfare paused with a truce in 2020.
While eastern Libya has been dominated for a decade by commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army, control in Tripoli and western Libya has been splintered among numerous armed factions.
The main oil facilities in the major energy exporter are located in southern and eastern Libya, far from fighting in Tripoli. Engineers at several oil fields and export terminals told Reuters output remained unaffected by the clashes.
US developing plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya, NBC News reports
- The US has discussed it with Libya’s leadership
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate as much as one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, NBC News reported on Friday, citing five people with knowledge of the matter.
Citing two people with direct knowledge and a former US official, NBC also reported that the plan is under serious enough consideration that the US has discussed it with Libya’s leadership.
In exchange for resettling the Palestinians, the administration would release to Libya billions of dollars of funds the US froze more than a decade ago, according to NBC and citing the same three people.
Israel blasts UN aid chief over call to prevent Gaza genocide
- Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon accused him of delivering “a political sermon“
- “It was an utterly inappropriate and deeply irresponsible statement”
UNITED NATIONS: Israel on Friday blasted the United Nations aid chief for asking the UN Security Council if it would act to “prevent genocide” in the Gaza Strip, where experts say famine looms after Israel blocked aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave 75 days ago.
While briefing the 15-member body earlier this week, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said: “Will you act – decisively – to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?“
In a letter to Fletcher on Friday, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon accused him of delivering “a political sermon” and weaponizing the word genocide against Israel, questioning under what authority he made what Israel viewed as an accusation.
“You had the audacity, in your capacity as a senior UN official, to stand before the Security Council and invoke the charge of genocide without evidence, mandate, or restraint,” he wrote. “It was an utterly inappropriate and deeply irresponsible statement that shattered any notion of neutrality.”
A spokesperson for Fletcher did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
Under international law, genocide is an intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. This includes through killings, serious bodily or mental harm and inflicting conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction.
The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and has blocked all aid to Gaza since March 2, demanding Hamas release all remaining hostages.
A global hunger monitor warned on Monday that half a million people face starvation — about a quarter of the population in the enclave.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that “a lot of people are starving in Gaza.”
Council of Europe: Israel sowing ‘the seeds for the next Hamas’ in Gaza
STRASBOURG: The Council of Europe on Friday said Gaza was suffering from a “deliberate starvation,” and warned that Israel was sowing “the seeds for the next Hamas” in the territory.
“The time for a moral reckoning over the treatment of Palestinians has come — and it is long overdue,” said Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The 46-member Council of Europe works to safeguard human rights and democracy.
“No cause, no matter how just or pure, can ever justify every means,” Bakoyannis said in a statement.
“The mass killing of children and unarmed civilians, the deliberate starvation, and the relentless pain and humiliation inflicted upon Palestinians in Gaza must end.”
Since March 2, Israeli forces have blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza for its 2.4 million inhabitants, now threatened with famine, according to several NGOs.
Bakoyannis said that “it takes a smart and brave nation to recognize when its actions are causing more harm than good. What is unfolding in Gaza helps no-one.”
Breaking a two-month ceasefire, Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, with the declared goal of obtaining the release of all hostages still held in Gaza.
Israeli retaliations have caused at least 53,010 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, considered reliable by the UN.
The UK government has meanwhile defended supplying fighter jet parts to Israel, telling a London court that suspending exports would compromise Britain’s security and damage relations with Israel and allies.
Government lawyer James Eadie said the UK’s trade department had acted lawfully and that suspending the export licences would have affected a wider international F-35 program, resulting in “extremely serious risks to the UK and international security.”
He added the court was not placed to rule on the legality of Israel’s actions, and that attempting to do so could have a “potentially deleterious” effect on “foreign relations with a friendly state, namely Israel.”
Tripoli back to calm after bout of deadly violence
TRIPOLI: Flights resumed on Friday at Tripoli’s airport as businesses and markets reopened after days of deadly fighting between armed groups in the Libyan capital.
“Last night, for the first time since Monday, residents of the capital were able to sleep without hearing explosions or gunfire,” an Interior Ministry official said.
After the bout of violence that pitted armed groups aligned with the Tripoli government and rival factions it seeks to dismantle, the official said that “we believe the situation is moving toward a ceasefire.”
Tripoli was calm again, with markets, gas stations and other businesses reopening at a
usual pace while many residents headed to mosques for the Friday prayer, AFP reporters said.
Flights to and from Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, which have been suspended since the fighting began early this week, resumed on Friday.
Authorities have deployed teams to clear the streets of barricades, burned-out vehicles and rubble caused by the violence, the latest outburst in Libya, which has remained deeply divided since the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The violence in Tripoli was sparked by the killing of Abdelghani Al-Kikli, head of the Support and Stability Apparatus faction, by the Dbeibah-aligned 444 Brigade.
FASTFACT
Flights to and from Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, which have been suspended since the fighting began early this week, resumed on Friday.
A second wave of clashes pitted the 444 Brigade against another group, the Radaa force, which controls parts of eastern Tripoli and several key state institutions.
A string of executive orders had sought to dismantle Radaa and dissolve other Tripoli-based armed groups, excluding the 444 Brigade.
The UN said on Thursday there was a “truce” in Tripoli, calling on “parties to take urgent steps to sustain and build upon it through dialogue.”
It said that “at least eight civilians” were killed in the clashes, “which drew armed groups from outside the city and subjected heavily populated neighborhoods to heavy artillery fire.”
The Interior Ministry source said authorities were patrolling key parts in Tripoli on Friday, as “armed groups’ vehicles” withdrew from flashpoint areas.
“It’s a positive thing, and it indicates good intentions,” said the source.
The UN support mission in Libya, UNSMIL, had called on Thursday “for all armed formations to return to their barracks without delay.”
