President Mahmoud Abbas of the State of Palestine named the Rector of a West Bank university as his new Prime Minister Sunday, a top aide said. Rami Hamdullah has been asked to form a new Cabinet, Abbas adviser Sabri Saidam told CNN. The British-educated linguist is now the Rector of An-Najah National University in Nablus, West Bank. Hamdullah will replace Salaam Fayyad, who has led a caretaker government since Abbas accepted his resignation in April. Fayyad's decision to step down was viewed as a step toward the possible establishment of a unity government between the two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas. According to a profile on the An-Najah website, Hamdullah has been Rector of the university since August 1998. He is also the secretary-general of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission and head of the Palestinian stock exchange. He received a doctorate in applied linguistics from the University of Lancaster in 1988 and a master's from the University of Manchester in 1982. He graduated from the University of Jordan in 1980 with a degree in the English language.
