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Associated Press International
Saturday, December 25, 1999
"Jordan shifts weekend to Friday-Saturday"
AMMAN, Jordan
Jordan said Saturday it will change the weekend for government offices to Fridays and Saturdays instead of Thursdays and Fridays, putting it more in step with world business.
State-owned Petra news agency said the change goes into effect starting the week of Saturday, Jan. 8.
It was not immediately clear if the government decision also applied to schools and universities.
The government had on Oct. 7 switched from a Friday-only weekend to Thursday-Friday. Friday is the Muslim Sabbath.
Economists had argued that that complicated commercial activity, because banks and the diplomatic corps had already taken Saturday as a holiday.
Businessmen said the Thursday-Friday weekend isolated the country from the Western world, where the weekend is normally Saturday and Sunday.
Financial institutions and many private businesses had introduced a Friday-Saturday weekend starting last March.
The other day weekend in Jordan is Friday, the Muslim day of prayer.