Jordanian king carries out first army reshuffle

Jordanian King Abdullah Bin al-Hussein started his first reform decision by exempting several senior army officers from their posts, including four generals who were aides to the army's chief of staff.

Well-informed Jordanian sources said the King, who assumed power two weeks ago, ordered on Saturday the pensioning off of several senior generals, including Lt. Gen. Tahsin Shardam, chief of staff of the land forces, Lt. Gen. Hamzeh al-Azab, deputy army chief of staff for administrative affairs; Lt. Gen. Eid al-Rawdan, the chief of staff of the army for the intelligence; and Lt. Gen. Muhammad al-Ibadi.

Shardam was one of the notable figures in the Jordanian delegation to peace negotiations with Israel.

On Sunday, King Abdullah sent a message to former Crown Prince Hassan in which he expressed his thanks and appreciation over Prince Hassan's efforts in serving Jordan during the past phase, especially though the foundations he runs.

King Abdullah told Prince Hassan, his uncle, that the institutions the prince had been running had realized their set objectives in maintaining progress for Jordan in the past phase.

The King asked his uncle to continue supervising the Higher Council for Science and Technology as part of the 12 other similar institutions Prince Hassan used to run, including the Royal Scientific Society, the al-Beit (in remarks to Prophet Muhammad's family), the Diplomatic Institute and the Royal Geographic Society.