Category: Jordan

Jordan releases soldier who killed 7 Israeli girls in 1997

In this Sunday, March 16, 1997 file photo, King Hussein of Jordan shakes the hand of members of the Badayev family in Beit Shemesh who are in mourning after their daughter Shiri was killed by a Jordanian soldier. King Hussein came to Israel to offer condolences to the seven families who had lost their daughters in an attack on a class trip.

Jordan hangs 10 for attacks, some tied to Islamic extremism

Jordan on Saturday executed 10 men convicted in a series of bombings and shooting attacks since 2003 that killed a British tourist, an outspoken critic of Islamic extremism and members of the Jordanian security forces, the government spokesman said. It was the largest round of executions in recent memory, and the first since pro-Western Jordan launched a crackdown on Islamic extremists two years ago, after the killing of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot by the Islamic State group.

Report: Israeli leader turned down regional peace initiative

An Israeli newspaper reported Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down a regional peace initiative last year that was brokered by then-American Secretary of State John Kerry , in apparent contradiction to his stated goal of involving regional powers in resolving Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. Haaretz reported that Netanyahu took part in a secret summit that Kerry organized in the southern Jordanian port city of Aqaba last February and included Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

Move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and do it soon

With Donald Trump in the White House, speculation is mounting: Does he intend to act on his pre-election promise, dating back to January 2016 and reaffirmed both before and since his election, that he will transfer the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, in accordance with standard diplomatic practice and the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act? A plethora of pieces have argued against the move. For example, Talia Sasson’s Op-Ed in these pages, “Move the U.S. embassy at Israel’s peril,” argued against moving the embassy on the novel basis, among others, that “Never have the Palestinians given up Jerusalem as their capital.”

Exploring Jordan’s cultural fusion

I squeezed through the narrow desert chasm just as the early-morning sun lit up the facade of the majestic Treasury building. The structure, originally a mausoleum, was carved from a red canyon some 2,000 years ago, when the city of Petra was a global trade center and its monuments a fusion of Arab and Greco-Roman cultures.

Exploring Jordan’s cultural fusion

I squeezed through the narrow desert chasm just as the early-morning sun lit up the facade of the majestic Treasury building. The structure, originally a mausoleum, was carved from a red canyon some 2,000 years ago, when the city of Petra was a global trade center and its monuments a fusion of Arab and Greco-Roman cultures.

IS claims responsibility for killing of Jordan army officer

The extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility Monday for a shooting attack it said killed a Jordanian soldier earlier this month. The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant internet traffic, quoted the IS news agency Amaq as saying that an IS “security detachment” killed 1st Sgt.

Faith Briefs

On Feb 19, the Rev. Howard Dotson will be joining family and friends of Shaza Messri in Amman, Jordan and Beirut, Lebanon to advocate and case manage her humanitarian asylum case.

Jordan’s police chief replaced after deadly IS attack

” State media in Jordan say King Abdullah II has replaced the head of public security in the wake of deadly shootings that rattled the kingdom and exposed its vulnerability to attacks by Islamic militants. Jordan’s security establishment has been criticized for its handling of the December shootings in the central Karak province that killed 11 officers and three civilians, including a Canadian tourist.

Jordan warns of – catastrophic repercussions’ should the US move its embassy to occupied Jerusalem

Trump promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s undivided capital if he emerged triumphant in the US presidential election. Information Minister Mohammed Momani told The Associated Press on Thursday that such a move would be a “red line” for Jordan and would ” inflame the Islamic and Arab streets .”

4 Jordanian police killed in clash with gunmen during raid

Four policemen were killed Tuesday in an exchange of fire with wanted men in a central Jordanian province where assailants had killed 10 people in a series of ambushes earlier this week, state media said. Several wanted men were killed and others arrested after the firefight in the province of Karak, the official news agency Petra reported.

Jordan shootings kill 4 policemen, Canadian tourist

Gunmen ambushed Jordanian police in a series of attacks Sunday, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing four members of the security forces and a woman visiting from Canada, officials said. A standoff between Jordanian special forces and armed men holed up inside the castle continued after nightfall Sunday, several hours after the first shooting.