al-Kasraj: President al-Mostafa has signed a new cabinet into office following a proposal put forth by Prime Minister al-Alli. The new cabinet consists of, traditionally, ba'athist party members, combined with several former royalists, one member of the New Dawn party and three independent politicians generally considered to be social liberals. This means that the overall cabinet is considered moderate, in line with what experts believed would come from Prime Minister al-Alli. In addition to a new cabinet President al-Mostafa also, in a strong move, directly invited Prime Minister of Beiteynu Eliana Amìra to the port city of Zerin. In his official invitation, he noted that:
The Kafuri government is ready to open negotiations that would see the return of diplomatic relations, an end to the economic and energy embargoes and a general normalization of relations. We invite the Beiteynese Prime Minister to the port city of Zerin. We shall stand down any military personell and allow Beiteynese ships to enter the Zerin port. The Prime Minister can ofcourse be escorted and protected during the meeting.
Whether the Beiteynese will accept the invitation is unclear. Meanwhile yesterday the killer of President al-Saad was publicly hanged in the People's Square with the execution also being televized. The Dairat announced that since the shooting of President al-Saad at least 4391 individuals have been killed or apprehended in the fight against radical Ahmadism, with the Dairat working closely with the Republican Guard and the National police in its operation to combat radical Ahmadism. Behind the scenes many Ba'athist party members and high ranking officials within the Dairat seem dissatisfied and even angry with the President's proposal for negotiations on Kafuri soil, but have so far kept quiet as to avoid open conflict with the President.