Submitting his resignation last week as Jordanian prime minister, Abdul Salam al-Majali said that he did not expect the change of government to affect the implementation of the peace process between Israel and Jordan.
Majali, whose main function was seen as furthering the peace process between Israel and Jordan, had served as prime minister for 19 months.
Majali was Jordan’s chief negotiator when the Israeli-Arab peace talks were launched in Madrid in October 1991. He was appointed prime minister in May 1993 to help accelerate peace talks with Israel.
He had been expected to resign after negotiating the peace treaty with Israel last October.
During his tenure, Majali also enforced economic reforms at home and clamped down on the activities of Jordanian fundamentalists opposed to the government’s peace initiatives with Israel.
Jordanian King Hussein this week appointed his cousin and former army chief, Zeid Bin Shaker, 60, as the new prime minister.
A close confidante of Hussein’s and popular with the Jordanian army, Shaker has served two previous terms as prime minister.
Hussein said Shaker’s main goals would be to improve relations with other Arab nations and to continue to maintain Jordanian responsibility for Muslim holy sites in eastern Jerusalem until the final status of the city is determined.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
