Iceland picks Bjarni Benediktsson as next prime minister

Iceland's Foreign Minister Bjarni Benediktsson attends a press conference after the meeting on the Gaza situation with foreign ministers from the Middle East, the Nordics and the Benelux countries in the government's representation facility in Oslo, Norway December 15, 2023. NTB/Stian Lysberg Solum via REUTERS/ File photo

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Bjarni Benediktsson said on Tuesday he will become the country's next prime minister, replacing Katrin Jakobsdottir who last week announced she would resign and run for president.

Benediktsson, head of the pro-business, right-wing Independence Party, now serves as foreign minister in a broad three-party coalition and was previously prime minister in a short-lived government from January to November of 2017.