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Salam Fayyad

salam fayyad

Salam Fayyad

PA Prime Minister, Finance and Foreign Affairs Minister

(Born 1952)

Salam Fayyad was born in a village near Tulkarm in the West Bank and moved with his family to Jordan as a child.

He earned a B.Sc. in Engineering from the American University of Beirut, an MBA in Accounting from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas.

In 1987, Salam Fayyad began his career as an economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. From 1995 to 2001, Fayyad was the official representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) working on financial reform for the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Finance. Dr. Fayyad is married with three children.

In June 2002, under heavy American pressure on PA Chairman Yasser Arafat to reform his government, Fayyad was appointed Finance Minister and has taken several measures to ensure more transparency in the Palestinian Authority's finances. In April 2003, Fayyad was reappointed as Minister of Finance in the Palestinian cabinet, and this position was again reconfirmed in the latest cabinet established in March 2005.

After the victory of Hamas in the January 2005 elections, Fayyad no longer served in the Palestinian cabinet.

Following PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's decision to dissolve the PA unity government in June 2007, Fayyad was appointed as the PA prime minister, and additionally leads the finance and foreign affairs ministries.

(Source: Jewish Virtual Library)

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