Jordan Times
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Support press, King tells
gov't
AMMAN (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday said the media was partly
responsible for the misunderstanding between Jordan and Iraq.
“Some journalists do not like to see our relationship with Iraq strong,” King
Abdullah said at a Royal Court meeting with chief editors of local dailies and
the director general of the Jordan News Agency, Petra. The King said the press
has an important role of “clarifying the real picture of the new situation in
Iraq,” adding that Iraqis “are looking to the future and have no desire to go
back to the past.”
But some columnists still remain “captive to the past,” the Monarch added,
noting that everyone should respect the will of the Iraqi people.
He said Jordan's media should be able to deal with Iraq's variables and the
transformations and are required to uphold the Kingdom's interests and sound
ties with Arab countries.
The King, meanwhile, said he directed the government to support the freedom of
the press, guarantee reporters' access to information and enact a legislation to
prohibit jailing journalists on charges related to their job.
He underlined the need for government institutions to open up to the media,
saying officials should enhance communication with journalists and grant them
access to information.
“In order to upgrade the performance of media in the country and avoid errors,
focus should be on professionalism and training of journalists,” the King said.
Urging the press to support Jordan's reform drive as well as his vision for the
future, the Monarch said the government should work as one team to achieve
reform. He told the top journalists that the Letter of Designation to Prime
Minister Adnan Badran and recommendations to be made by the Steering Committee
for National Agenda will be the guidelines for the government, stressing that
“judgement should be on programmes and not persons.” “We are on the right
track,” the King said. He added that political reform is going ahead in line
with his vision, stressing that these changes should go hand-in-hand with
socio-economic development.
In a related development, Badran yesterday urged Jordanian and Iraqi journalists
to help “remove impurities that might appear in bilateral ties.”
Badran told top representatives of Iraqi media outlets at a meeting that Jordan
and Iraq “share the same destiny.” He added that the “flourishing” freedom of
expression as well as political and intellectual pluralism in Iraq now would
enhance the Amman-Baghdad ties.
The Iraqi journalists also met with Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali,
Interior Ministry Secretary General Mkheimar Abu Jamous. They also visited Al
Rai and Al Ghad newspapers, where they met with the dailies' chief editors Abdul
Wahhab Zgheilat and Ayman Safadi, respectively.
Zgheilat underlined the distinguished historical relations between Jordan and
Iraq, stressing that the Kingdom will always back the neighbouring country's
efforts to restore security and stability.
At Al Ghad, Safadi and the Iraqi journalists discussed the newspaper's
“inaccurate” report on the Hilla terrorist attack. Safadi stressed that
“publishing the report was a technical error” and did not represent the opinion
of the paper, which denounced the attack “in line with its firm stand against
terrorism and killing innocent people.”
The journalists toured the two newspapers and were briefed on their future
plans.