Tahsin Shardam, Jordanian ambassador to Israel

An official source in Amman has reported that the former deputy chief of staff of the Jordanian armed forces, retired Lt. Gen. Tahsin Shardam (50), was appointed as Jordan's ambassador to Israel in succession of Omar al-Refa, who was appointed in that post in 1996 and was recently summoned to Amman. Shardam, who held several posts in the Jordanian army, took part in the Jordanian - Israeli negotiations which resulted in signing the peace agreement between the two countries in October 1994.

In last February 1999 he was relieved in the framework of changes in the Jordanian army made by King Abdullah Bin Hussein after he assumed power in Jordan.