Protesters from opposition parties shout anti-government slogans as they gathered in front of Jordanian Prime minister office demonstration in Amman, Jordan, 29 January 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES
Jordan's King Abdullah II has sacked his government on Tuesday over street protests and has appointed a former army general to form a new Cabinet.
Jordan's Royal Palace has confirmed that former Prime Minister Samir Rifai's Cabinet has resigned on Tuesday. The New Prime Minister, Marouf Bakhit, a reputbable ex-general, has been charged with carrying out "true political reforms", the palace has stated.
Thousands of protesters had demanded the resignation of Samir Rifai and action on rising prices and unemployment. The demonstrators have been peaceful and have not been confronted by the police.
Rallies have not been staged against King Abdullah II, criticism of whom is abolished in Jordan.
The weekly demonstrations have been inspired by the unrest in the region, which has already been called a "domino effect" in the Arab world, and were joined Friday by thousands across Jordan.
Meanwhile, the number of people killed in the clashes between protesters and security forces in the past seven days across Egypt exceeded 300. On Tuesday, Several hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered at the central "Tahrir" square in the capital Cairo at the so-called Million March, announced earlier.
Pro-democracy protesters have also marched the streets of Yemen since last week inspired by unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Sudan are demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's long rule.
Earlier, Tunisia's President Ben Ali fled Tunisia for Saudi Arabia, following a month of popular protests fed by allegations of corruption.