Ex Jordan PM testifies in casino case

Former Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit appeared before the Amman Public Prosecutor on Wednesday to testify in the high-profile Dead Sea Casino case. The corruption case dates back to 2007 during Bakhit's first term (2005-2007) when the government authorised the building of a casino on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea by a London-based investor. The deal was later renegotiated and annulled by Prime Minister Nader Dahabi's government, saving the Jordanian treasury over $ 1.4 billion in fines. The parliament voted to acquit Bakhit of implication in June 2011, while Bakhit was heading his second government. Bakhit's acquittal stirred major controversy, especially as the same parliament voted to indict former Minister of Tourism Osama Dabbas in the case, after an ad-hoc parliamentary committee that investigated the defunct casino deal referred 33 former officials, including 21 ministers, to the House for possible indictment. Last week, former Royal Court Chief Bassem Awadallah appeared before the Amman Public Prosecutor to testify in the same case. Awadallah served as Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court (November 2007- September 2008) and Director of the Office of King Abdullah II (April 2006-November 2007) in the same period as Bakhit's first term.