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Ammon News -
AMMONNEWS - A Royal Decree was issued on Thursday appointing Dr. Adel Tweisi as Board Chairman of Mu'tah University in southern Jordan.

Another Royal Decree was issued approving the recommendation of the Higher Education Council to appoint Dr. Rida Khawaldeh as president of Mu'tah University for a four-year term.

Khawaldeh previously headed the Aqaba branch of the University of Jordan (UJ), and was UJ's Vice President for Humanities Faculties and Institutes.

The appointments came after a violent week witnessed at Mu'tah in the southern governorate of Karak over student elections.

The violent riots began following the student elections on Wednesday, and re-erupted again on Thursday and on Sunday causing the university to halt classes on Monday.

Riots and acts of violence extended well beyond the university campus, evoking several parliamentarians and local leaders to intervene to restore order to the southern governorate.

On Wednesday, the body of Mu'tah University student Osama Dheisat, a 21-year old fourth year engineering student who died on Tuesday during campus riots, was laid to rest in Faqouh district in Karak.

The forensic post-mortem autopsy report stated that the student died as a result of chronic heart disease, noting that the tear gas used to disperse rioters on campus was not relevant to the student's death.

The Higher Education Council suspended Mu'tah University classes until further notice, citing recurring violence that left over 22 police officers and 8 local resident injured.

Local officials said that order has been restored in the southern Karak governorate. Public Security Department (PSD) officials noted that an independent investigation committee has been formed to investigate the Mu'tah incidents, that witnessed vandalism and damages to public and private property in Karak, including Mu'tah University facilities.