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DE RUEHAM #8754/01 3410713
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P 070713Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5986

UNCLAS AMMAN 008754 
 
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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. 
 
 
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