AMMAN (AFP) — King Abdullah II of Jordan on Saturday named Nasser Lawzi, a former minister and current chairman of Royal Jordanian Airlines, as head of the royal court, the palace announced.
The post of head of the royal court is considered the country's third most important, after the king and the prime minister.
Lawzi, 51, replaces Bassem Awadallah, a controversial figure who resigned on Monday after facing accusations from politicians and journalists of meddling in the country's privatisation plans.
The new supremo has held several government roles, including information minister from 1998 in the reign of King Hussein.
In 1999 he was named transport minister in the first government of King Abdullah II, later becoming minister of public works before taking over at Royal Jordanian in 2006.
The unmarried Lawzi is the son of a politician, Ahmed Lawzi, who was prime minister from 1971 to 1973, then head of the royal court from 1979 to 1984.
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