AMMAN, Oct 22: Close US ally Jordan’s King Abdullah on Wednesday asked his palace aide Faisal al-Fayez to form a new cabinet to push forward the country’s modernisation plans, the state news agency said.

It said the monarch officially accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb — a wealthy businessman with extensive ties in pre-war Iraq — and asked Fayez, currently royal court minister, to form a new government.—Reuters