JORDANIAN CABINET FOLLOWING THE NOVEMBER 22 RESHUFFLE

UNCLAS AMMAN 008754 SIPDIS "NOTE BY CIB: DO NOT/NOT PROCESS GIVE TO EAO FOR GUIDANCE" SENSITIVE SIPDIS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG FOR NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON JO SUBJECT: JORDANIAN CABINET FOLLOWING THE NOVEMBER 22 RESHUFFLE Refs: A) AMMAN 8572 B) AMMAN 8603 C) 05 Amman 9387 1) ( U ) As reported ref A, the cabinet reshuffle announced November 22 added nine new ministers to the government of PM Marouf Al-Bakhit. Bakhit dismissed seven ministers (Abid Shakhanbeh, Azmi Khreisat, Saeed Darwazeh, Akef Zu'bi, Sabri Rbiehat, Munir Nassar and Omar Al Kurdi),and carved out two new portfolios, a Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs, and a Minister of State for Legal Affairs. Two ministers, Sharif Zu'bi and Salim Khazaaleh, were assigned new portfolios. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio shifted from the Minister of Political Development to the Minister of Public Sector Reform. Paragraph 2 names the complete cabinet, and paragraph 3 provides biographical information on the new ministers. Ref C provided biographical information on the original cabinet, named November 27, 2005. 2) ( U ) Complete list of cabinet members: -- Marouf Al Bakhit, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense -- Ziyad Fariz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance -- Abdelelah Al Khatib, Minister of Foreign Affairs -- Nader Thuheirat, Minister of Municipal Affairs -- Eid Al Fayez, Minister of Interior -- Muhyiddine Touq (new),Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs -- Hosni Abu Ghaida, Minister of Public Works and Housing -- Khalid Touqan, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research -- Sharif Zu'bi, Minister of Justice (formerly Minister of Industry and Trade) -- Khalid Samara Zu'bi (new),Minister of State for Legal Affairs -- Khalid Shraideh (new),Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources -- Saad Kharabsheh (new),Minister of Health -- Saud Nseirat, Minister of Transport -- Salim Khazaaleh, Minister of Industry and Trade (formerly Minister of Public Sector Reform) -- Suhair Al Ali, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation -- Khalid Irani, Minister of Environment -- Bassem Al Salem, Minister of Labor -- Mohammad Thuneibat (new),Minister of Public Sector Reform and Minister of State for Parliamentarian Affairs -- Abdul Fattah Salah, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs -- Thafer Al Alem, Minister of Water and Irrigation -- Mustafa Qurunfleh (new),Minister of Agriculture -- Adel Al Twaisi, Minister of Culture -- Mohammad Oran (new),Minister of Political Development -- Suleiman Tarawneh (new),Minister of Social Development -- Osama Dabbas (new),Minister of Tourism and Antiquities -- Bassem Rousan (new),Minister of Communications and Information Technology 3) ( SBU / NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG ) Bios for the new ministers follow: -- Muhyiddine Touq, Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs. Muslim, Circassian East Banker. Born in Amman in 1944. BA in philosophy from the University of Jordan; M.A. from Ball State in 1970, and a PhD. in educational philosophy from a U.S. university in ¶1972. Taught at the University of Wisconsin for one year; joined University of Jordan (UJ) in 1973; professor at the faculty of education in 1982; Dean of Students Affairs at UJ; Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of the UAE from 1984 - 1990; President of Philadelphia University in Amman for one year; Director of Higher Education with UNESCO and UNRWA. Appointed Minister of Administrative Development in Zaid ben Shaker's third cabinet in ¶1995. Appointed Director of UNRWA/UNESCO Department of Education in ¶1996. Member of the Economic Advisory Council for King Abdullah II, and is a member of the Royal Commission on Human Rights in Jordan. Permrep to the United Nations in Vienna 2001-2003, during which time he was a key actor in negotiations to draft the UN Convention Against Corruption. Ambassador to Belgium and the EU in 2005. President of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy until 2005. -- Khalid Samara Zu'bi, Minister of State for Legal Affairs. Muslim, East Banker. Born in Ramtha in 1944. Studied law in Egypt, where he also obtained a PhD in general law. He held the portfolio of Minister of State for Legal Affairs in the government of Abdul Salam al-Majali twice, in 1995 and 1998. During his second tenure he also handled the parliamentary affairs portfolio. He was the President of al Zaytooneh University. Until he was appointed minister, Zu'bi served as a professor at the Amman Arab University and practiced law. No relation to Justice Minister Sharif Zu'bi. -- Khalid Shraideh, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources. Muslim, East Banker. Born in Irbid in 1948. Earned his BA, MA and PhD from Utrecht University in the Netherlands in physics and mathematics. Started his working life at the Royal Institute for Culture and Sciences from 1980-1981; the Higher Education Council from 1982-1986; physics professor at the University of Jordan from 1986-1989; joined the Higher Council for Sciences and Technology in 1989 and became its Secretary General in 2004. -- Saad Kharabsheh, Minister of Health. Muslim, East Banker. Born in Salt in 1950. He obtained his bachelors degree in medicine and surgery from Baghdad University in ¶1975. Earned his MA in epidemiology from Ein Shams University in Egypt in 1987. Earned the Certificate of the Jordanian Board of Public Health in 1995; he served as the ministry's Director General for Primary Healthcare, a proponent of preventive care. He was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Health in 2003. Dr. Kharabsheh is married and has six children. -- Mohammad Thuneibat, Minister of Public Sector Reform and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. Muslim, East Banker. Born in Karak in 1950. Obtained a BA in political science in 1975 from the University of Jordan. Obtained a PhD in administration/human resources management from the University of Southern California. Dr. Thuneibat was a professor at the University of Jordan for several years. In 1992, he was a consultant at the Prime Ministry, and then became head of the Surveillance and Administrative Inspection Department until 1994. Appointed Minister of State for Administrative Development in 1994-1995, and head of the Arab Association for Administrative Development. He is a member of the Civil Service Council, and the Royal Commission for Administrative Reforms. Appointed Minister of State for Administrative Development in Abu al Ragheb's first cabinet in June 2000. In addition to this portfolio, he also served as Minister of Culture in the second reshuffle of Abu al Ragheb's cabinet in October 27, 2001. Appointed Minister of Administrative Development in Abu al Ragheb's second cabinet in January 2002. In addition to this portfolio, he also served as Minister of Environment after the second reshuffle of the second Abu al Ragheb's cabinet in January 12, 2003. Thuneibat's brother, Abdul Majeed Al-Thuneibat, is a former Controller General of the Muslim Brotherhood. -- Mustafa Qurunfleh, Minister of Agriculture. Muslim, West Banker. Born in Jaffa in 1944. Obtained a BA in horticulture from the University of Cairo in 1969, an MA in horticulture from University of California-Davis in 1979, and a PhD in horticulture from Kansas State University in 1982. Served as Vice Dean of the University of Jordan's faculty of agriculture and was appointed Dean of the Faculty in 2003. Qurunfleh, who has been a professor since 1993, also served as chairman of the Department of Plant Production. Until his appointment as a minister, he was Vice President for Administrative Affairs at the University of Jordan. -- Mohammad al Oran, Minister of Political Development. Muslim, East Banker. Born in Tafileh, 1945. BS in medicine from St. George's Hospital in London. Served in the Royal Medical Services until 1974, after which he returned to England to earn membership of the Royal College of Physicians and went into private practice. Former council member of the Greater Amman Municipality. Oran, who was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1997, also served as president of the Jordanian Doctors' Association for two terms from 2001 to 2005. Oran became Secretary General in 1997 of the Arab Land party, a leftist movement founded in 1996, which is a member of the National Coalition of Opposition Political Parties. As party leader and as head of the Doctors' Association, he was a frequent critic of U.S. policy in the Middle East. He stepped down from both posts after joining the cabinet. -- Osama Dabbas, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities. Muslim, East Banker. Born in 1954. Obtained a Bachelors degree in Business Administration in Britain, and an advanced diploma in tourism in Germany. Served as General Manager of the Aqaba Intercontinental Hotel until his appointment as minister. He was also a member of the Jordan Tourism Board. -- Bassem Roussan, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology. Muslim, East Banker. Born in Amman in 1947. Roussan holds a BA degree in electrical engineering from Ein Shams University in Egypt in 1970, and an MA degree in electrical engineering from Southern Methodist University in Texas. He served in the Royal Jordanian Air Force communications department, and then joined FastLink telecom company in 1997, where he served as director of the engineering department until March 2002. He was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of FastLink prior to his appointment as minister. VISIT AMMAN'S CLASSIFIED WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/NEA/AMMAN/ HALE