Jordanians celebrate departure of sacked prime minister

            Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets Friday to express their joy at the sacking of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit's government, which they had accused of blocking political reform. About 2,000 activists, mainly belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood movement, demonstrated outside the Grand Husseini Mosque in central Amman after Friday prayers, saying "Good Bye to Bakhit, Welcome to the Reformer." The slogan referred to King Abdullah II's dismissal of Bakhit's cabinet on Monday and his appointment of Awn Khasawneh, an International Court of Justice (ICJ) judge, as the country's new prime minister. Khasawneh offered to include in his cabinet Islamists and other opposition political parties, and pledged to carry out the needed reforms, including the enactment of an up-to-date election law that produces a lower house of parliament truly representative of the people. The premier designate said he expected to announce the formation of his cabinet on Monday. The demonstrators appealed to Khasawneh to preserve the right of the people to peaceful demonstration and to behave differently from Bakhit, whom they accused of derailing political reforms and of plotting mob attacks on pro-reform rallies. (!4,00)