Jordan's prime minister reshuffled his cabinet on Monday, appointing new finance, foreign and interior ministers to give himself more scope to tackle social and economic problems, officials said.
The changes were aimed at giving greater cohesion to the cabinet of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, appointed in November 2007 with a mandate to accelerate economic reforms.
Officials said they were prompted by domestic considerations and were not expected to affect foreign policy.
Pro-reformist Labour Minister Bassem al-Sale, who has strong business credentials, was appointed finance minister, replacing Hamad Kassasbeh and sending a strong signal to Jordan's donors and the International Monetary Fund of its commitment to free market reforms.
Pro-Western reformist Foreign Minister Salah al-Basheer, who has been a target of criticism by conservatives, was replaced by Nasser Joudeh, a veteran information minister and government spokesman.
The new interior minister, Nayef al-Qadi, succeeds Eid al-Fayez, who had antagonised civil rights campaigners and the Islamist opposition by using heavy-handed police tactics to clamp down on dissent during parliamentary elections in 2007.
The Islamists, opponents of Israel and U.S. policy in the Middle East, want an end to restrictions on political activity and say civil rights have been suppressed ever since Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
Officials say the reshuffled cabinet will strengthen Dahabi's drive to rejuvenate the economy. His government faces an uphill task to ease the effects of the financial crisis on Jordan's aid-dependent economy.
The stagnation of the economy has been aggravated by the country's ties to Gulf Arab states, where growth has been sharply cut after steep falls in oil revenues.
Officials have privately trimmed growth forecasts to about 3 percent, compared with earlier predictions of more than 5 percent for 2009.
The long-awaited reshuffle became more urgent after the resignation last September of the monarch's closest reform adviser, Basem Awadallah, whose Western-style free market policies had challenged the conservative establishment.
The conservatives had accused Awadallah, a confidant of the monarch, of seeking to give the monarchy wider powers by setting up a shadow administration that interfered with the day-to-day functioning of the government.
The new 27-member line-up, sworn in by King Abdullah on Monday, includes a total of 10 new ministers.
That fact that the cabinet had retained its technocratic composition was likely to play well in Washington, political analysts said. Jordan is among the closest allies of the United States in the region.
Jordan will retain its commitment to Middle East peace, which is guided by the king. Most power rests with the monarch, who appoints governments, approves legislation and can dissolve parliament.
