Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new cabinet late Wednesday, the third caretaker government since the 2007 de facto West Bank-Gaza split, dpa reported. Acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad remained in his post. Fayyad gave up the Finance Ministry to Nabil Qassis, a Christian and former president of the West Bank's Birzeit University. Fayyad, an internationally respected economist, had held that portfolio almost uninterruptedly since 2003. Twenty-four ministers took the oath, nine of whom are new, while 15 others kept their old portfolios.
