AMMAN: Jordan's King Abdullah II endorsed a Cabinet reshuffle, Saturday following the resignation of three ministers over a corruption scandal and draft laws that place curbs on press freedoms, officials said. The move, affecting seven portfolios, left the finance and foreign ministers in place but replaced the interior minister and maintained a lineup dominated by right-wing politicians and tribal loyalists. The reshuffle was forced by the resignations in May of the ministers of health and justice after a wealthy businessman, convicted of corruption, was allowed to leave the country to be treated for what doctors said was a life-threatening ailment. Proposals by the government to restrict the vocal online media also pushed Information Minister Taher Adwan to resign last month. The reshuffle named Mazen Al-Saket, who used to head the civil service, as the new interior minister and Abdullah Abu Ruman, a senior ministry official, as the new information minister. Facing widespread protests inspired by Arab uprisings, King Abdullah appointed Marouf Al-Bakhit as prime minister last February, angering the main Islamist opposition who said Bakhit oversaw flawed 2007 elections. Heightened political tensions between parliament and Bakhit in recent weeks reflected a growing internal struggle within the governing elite where the powerful security apparatus plays a leading role in handling street demands for reforms, they say.
