Saudi hosting conference to take Jordan out of crisis

Saudi Arabia will host a special conference today aimed at charting a course for Jordan out of its economic crisis. King Salman called the meeting in Makkah after a series of street protests in Amman over planned austerity measures culminated in the resignation of Prime Minister Hani Al Mulki. His successor, Omar Al Razzaz, a former World Bank economist, announced on Thursday that a controversial IMF-backed income tax bill would be withdrawn. The conference will be attended by representatives from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan “to discuss means of supporting Jordan to overcome its current crisis,” the Saudi Press Agency said.