Jordan Times
Friday, February 24, 2006
Last batch of Iraqi
counterterrorism forces end training
The programme is to move in March to a new facility in Iraq
AMMAN (AP) — A final group of 77 Iraqi soldiers completed counterterrorism
training in the Kingdom on Thursday.
The programme is to move in March to a new facility in Iraq.
The graduation brings to 533 the number of soldiers who have taken the
three-month course on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency tactics under
American, Jordanian and Iraqi trainers since it began in 2003 at the
Counterterrorism Centre of the Special Operations Command.
The graduation came a day after two bombs caused severe damage to the golden
dome of the Askariya Shrine in Samarra, northwest of Baghdad, sparking a wave of
reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques.
The violence raised fears of an all-out sectarian conflict in Iraq where
passions are already high as Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds struggle to reach a
compromise on a new government.
Speaking at the graduation, US Ambassador to Jordan David Hale condemned the
attack, saying “the terrorist attacks of this nature are attacks against all of
us.”
Hale urged the Iraqis to do their utmost with the help of allies and friends “to
build a united, prosperous, stable and democratic Iraq.”
He vowed that the US “will work hard with our Iraqi partners to make sure that
those responsible for this terrible crime are brought to justice.”
Iraqi police and military have become frequent targets of insurgents fighting
the US-led multinational force in Iraq and the American-backed government in
Baghdad.
In addition to the counterterrorism programme, Jordan is training thousands of
Iraqi police in the International Police Training Centre in Muwaqqar, 35
kilometres east of Amman.
The instructors come from 15 countries, including the United States, Britain,
Canada and Jordan.
The Kingdom also is training Iraqi soldiers at the Zarqa Military College.
About 1,650 soldiers, including 50 women, graduated from the programme last
year.
Also, a first group of eight Iraqi pilots and five engineers completed a
two-month training course last July as part of the rebuilding of the Iraqi air
force.