New cabinet ministers take oath

Pakistan announced a new, slimline cabinet on Friday, cutting its number from 54 to 22 but retaining many members of the previous lineup with the notable exception of the foreign minister.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani assembled the smaller cabinet to reduce government expenditure and meet opposition demands, part of a 10-point economic agenda.

President Asif Ali Zardari swore in the 22 federal ministers and one state minister into office at the Presidency in Islamabad.

The former cabinet, one of the largest in the world, was seen as a major hurdle in cutting state spending and carrying out economic reforms at a time when Pakistan is struggling to pay its bills and is dependent on an International Monetary Fund loan to run its economy.

Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh retained his post, providing continuity in Pakistan’s dealings with international donors. Interior Minister Rehman Malik also kept his place.

Gilani named five new ministers to his team. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was not included in the lineup, announced a day after India and Pakistan said they were resuming peace talks, broken off after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

But his removal was not believed to be connected to the peace process and no change in foreign policy is expected. Analysts say the move is aimed at garnering support for the economic reforms.

Others absent included Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and Water and Power Minister Pervaiz Ashraf.

List of portfolios announced:

• Ahmed Mukhtar – Defence Minister
• Arbab Alamgir – Communication Minister
• Babar Awan – Law Minister
• Firdous Ashiq Awan – Minister for Information
• Ghulam Ahmad Bilour – Railways Minister
• Hafeez Sheikh – Finance Minister
• Hina Rabbani Khar – State Minister for Foreign Affairs
• Khurshid Shah Minister – of Religious Affairs
• Makhdoom Amin Fahim – Minister for Commerce & Trade
• Makhdoom Shahabud Din – Textile Minister
• Manzoor Wattoo – Minister for Kashmir Affairs
• Mir Changez Jamali – Minister for Science & Technology
• Naveed Qamar – Minister for Privatisation
• Raza Rabbani – Minister for Inter-Provincial Co-Ordination
• Samina Khalid Ghurki – Environment Minister
• Shahbaz Bhatti – Minister for Minority Affair

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president 

Egyptian president stands down and hands over power to the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces.

Aljazeera, February 10, 2011

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.

The crowd in Tahrir chanted "We have brought down the regime", while many were seen crying, cheering and embracing one another.

Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader, hailed the moment as being the "greatest day of my life", in comments to the Associated Press news agency.

"The country has been liberated after decades of repression,'' he said.

"Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world," our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.

"The sense of euphoria is simply indescribable," our correspondent at Mubarak's Heliopolis presidential palace, where at least ten thousand pro-democracy activists had gathered, said.