CAIRO, Egypt - In a surprising move, Egypt's president tapped a young, relatively unknown water minister Tuesday to form a new government. Hesham Kandil, 49, becomes the youngest prime minister in Egypt's history.Educated in the United States, he earned both his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of North Carolina. Kandil joined Egypt's government after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. He was appointed minister of irrigation and water resources under Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, three weeks after Mubarak fell.
- Before that, he was a water specialist with the African Development Bank and participated in the Nile Basin Initiative, according to his biography.
- President Mohamed Morsy's appointment of Kandil is likely to disappoint business leaders who had hoped for someone with financial expertise to lead Egypt and its fragile economy. Other critics say he lacked the political experience to become prime minister.
- Speculation is still swirling as to the allotment of Cabinet posts.
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