Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today named Rami Hamdallah, president of an-Najah National University in the West Bank city of Nablus, to form a new government and replace Salam Fayyad as prime minister.
The appointment, first announced by the official Palestinian government Wafa news agency, was confirmed by Ahmed Assaf, a spokesman for Abbas's Fatah party. Hamdallah has three weeks to form a government, Assaf said by phone.
Hamdallah, who has a doctorate in applied linguistics from the University of Lancaster, replaces Fayyad, who worked in Washington and was familiar with the workings of the U.S. government and international aid organizations. Hamdallah's resume says he is also the chairman of the Palestine Exchange.
Abbas needs to retain the confidence of international donor nations, who contribute half of the Palestinian Authority's budget. Fayyad, a University of Texas-educated economist for the International Monetary Fund, fulfilled that role until he resigned in April, warning that the government was in an unsustainable financial position.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fadwa Hodali in Jerusalem at fhodali@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net
03 Jun, 2013
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHwrZZ-FcUaICDih_OlLHqLVMb8SQ&url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-02/abbas-asks-nablus-professor-to-become-palestinian-prime-minister.html
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