Jordan TV has announced the resignations of 11 top officials, including the national security adviser, in the wake of the Jordan bombings. King Abdullah II appointed Marouf al-Bakhit, Amman’s ambassador to Israel, to replace outgoing security chief Saad Kheir, a former head of Jordan’s intelligence department. No details were given for the resignation of Kheir and 10 others, including prominent religious advisers to Abdullah, but a limited shake-up had been expected.
Source: [AP]
Here is additional information from Alarabiya and Elaph (Arabic). Also Jordanian blogger Khalaf offers a good analysis. Meanwhile, a Jordanian official says the decision has nothing to do with the terroirst attacks that occured in Jordan on Wednesday.
"The moves may have been speeded up by the tragic events but the decision itself has nothing to do with it. It’s related to moves to restructure the royal court," one senior official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Source: [Aljazeera]
As the story of the officials’ resignation (or "sacking" as Alrabiya reports) is developing, I leave you with a highlight from this DPA article, which claims that an Egyptian caretaker helped Jordanian authorities find the failed suicide bomber:
When Al Qaeda issued its statement the day after the Wednesday night bombing, saying that four people, one of whom was a woman, had carried out the operation, the caretaker came to believe that the bombers and the tenants were the same people. Adding to that conviction was the fact that the bombers had said they would be visiting another Jordanian city later that Wednesday and returning the following day. Despite this, the woman returned alone and in a state of agitation last Wednesday night. The caretaker informed the landlord of his suspicions, who in turn gave the Jordanian authorities the passports the four had presented to him to rent the flat.
Source: [DPA]
baaaaad bad move at the present time
Analysts are also expecting a government reshuffle….let’s wait and see.
They’re also saying that members of the upper house of parliament will be changed as well… I don’t know what to think! It actually feels unsettling at times like this, because it probably indicates a change of policy, whatever that will be… we just have to wait and see I guess!!