Jordan Times
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
King reiterates support for Iraqi people
AMMAN (JT) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday
stressed that Jordan would not spare any effort to help the Iraqi people
overcome the crisis they are undergoing now and build a self-determined future.
At a meeting with key figures from the Karak Governorate at Raghadan Palace, the
King said Jordan's efforts are focusing on ways of empowering the Iraqi people
to build their institutions and help them establish an army capable of providing
security and stability, to replace foreign powers occupying the country.
The Kingdom has trained thousands of Iraqi police and army personnel. The third
group of Iraqi police, consisting of 957 cadets, graduated on Saturday, the
Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
His Majesty indicated that his talks in Washington this week would focus on the
Iraqi and Palestinian files, in addition to Jordan-US ties. He said if the
Palestinian and Iraqi issues remain unsolved, it would fuel violence and
instability in the entire region.
On the domestic level, the King said attention is being paid to the issues of
poverty and unemployment, noting that both the private and the public sectors
shoulder a joint responsibility of establishing development projects in the
Kingdom's governorates.
Addressing Karak community leaders King Abdullah said: “You are more capable of
deciding what your governorate's needs are with regard to development projects,
whether agricultural, tourism or industrial.” He said he would support ideas for
a successful project in any governorate, suggested by citizens.
Meanwhile, His Majesty instructed the government to study housing needs of
impoverished citizens in the governorates as the first step towards building
housing units for poor families, mirroring plans implemented in Wadi Araba,
Azraq and other remote villages.
King Abdullah stressed that combating corruption and favouritism is on top of
his agenda, noting the incumbent government is serious about its efforts to
eliminate the phenomenon.
The King praised the security services for their alertness and ability in
foiling plots against national security and stability.
Present at the meeting were Minister of Royal Court Samir Rifai, Minister of
Planning and International Cooperation Bassem Awadallah, Minister of Interior
Samir Habashneh and other senior officials.