Amman, February 1
King Abdullah of Jordan, a close US ally, replaced his prime minister today following protests inspired by mass demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, but the opposition dismissed the move as insufficient. Abdullah asked Marouf Bakhit, a conservative former premier with a military background, to head the government after accepting the resignation of Samir Rifai, whose dismissal has been demanded in a series of protests across the country.

Islamists quickly expressed their anger with the appointment of Bakhit, whose government oversaw local and parliamentary elections in 2007 seen as marred by vote-rigging that left them with a handful of seats in a pro-government assembly.

"This is not a step in the right direction and does not show any intent towards real political reforms or meeting the popular demands for people yearning for greater political freedoms," said Sheikh Hamza Mansour, head of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest political group.

Under fire from an enraged public over high food prices, Rifai announced wage increases two weeks ago to civil servants and the military in an attempt to restore calm.

But protests continued across Jordan, with demonstrators blaming corruption spawned by free-market reforms for the plight of the country's poor.

Rifai was criticised for pushing a pro-Western reform agenda. His opponents sought to reverse free market reforms they say have cut state support for East Bank Jordanians, the original inhabitants of the country who depend on government support more than Jordanians of Palestinian origin.

"I wouldn't see it (appointment) as a sign of liberalisation," said Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle East policy studies at London's City University. "With his previous premiership, (Bakhit) talked the talk of reform but little actually happened."

Many Jordanians hold successive governments responsible for a prolonged recession and rising public debt that hit a record $15 billion this year in one of the Arab world's smallest economies, heavily dependent on foreign aid.

But discontent in recent months has grown as the economic downturn bites and weakens the state's ability to create more jobs in a public sector that has traditionally absorbed poor tribesmen in rural and Bedouin areas. — Reuters

Jerusalem, February 1
Amid efforts by the Israeli government to consciously refrain from siding with embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the US administration has been flayed here for "turning its back" on one of its most trusted allies in the Middle East and "throwing him to the dogs".

Israel's Deputy Minister for Galilee and Negev Development, Ayoub Kara, told visiting former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a likely Republican US presidential candidate, that US President Barack Obama needed to understand that "supporting the masses carrying out a revolution in Egypt is like support for the Muslim Brotherhood which is likely to take Mubarak's place," The Jerusalem Post reported.

Kara, who is from from the ruling Likud party, said he was "disappointed by Obama turning his back" on Mubarak.

"It needs to be understood that if the Egyptian government will fall, the Muslim Brotherhood will take its place, and that will cause even worse problems not only for the Middle East, but for the whole world," the deputy minister said.

Kara said while it was clear Obama wanted to see democracy established in the Middle East, "anyone with eyes in his head sees that there is no worthy alternative now to Mubarak, and those pushing the masses toward revolution are the Muslim Brotherhood." The Americans needed to learn from their experience in Iraq, which is now "saturated with terror", he stressed.

A columnist for Israel's leading daily 'Yediot Ahronoth', Eitan Haber, who was a top aide to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was more blunt in his criticism of the US administration writing that its stand sends a dreadful message to Israel.

Obama threw Mubarak "to the dogs", Haber wrote in a column yesterday. "America, which waves the banner of 'citizens rights', 'democracy', and 'freedom of information', turned its back in a day on one of its most important allies in the Middle East," he said.

"Obama sold Mubarak for the pot of lentils of popularity among the Egyptian masses," the columnist wrote asserting that the US President did this without a true understanding of the Middle East.

"Our conclusion in Israel needs to be that the man sitting in the White House is liable to 'sell' us over night," he argued, adding, "The thought that the US might not stand by our side in the day of need causes chills. God help us."

The same sentiments were echoed by former Mossad chief Danny Yatom who told Israel Radio in an interview that the US' treatment of Mubarak was a dangerous message to Washington's allies in the region, including Israel, that they could not rely on America.

The former top spy argued that Washington's first error in judgement came when it desisted from aggressively supporting the opposition in Iran when it took to the streets against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the summer of 2009. — PTI

Lahore/Islamabad, February 1
A court today barred the government from handing over to the US an American national arrested for gunning down two Pakistanis even as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asserted that his case will be decided according to the country's laws.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry directed the government not to hand over Raymond Davis to the US in response to petitions filed by lawyer Saeed Zafar and three others.

The Chief Justice also directed authorities to put the American's name on the Exit Control List, which contains names of people barred from travelling out of Pakistan. "We restrain the government from handing over Raymond Davis to the US as the court has to decide the case," Chaudhry observed.

The government should inform the High Court whether Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity, he said. — PTI