Jordan Times
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
'35 Jordanians missing or detained in Iraq'
By Khalid Dalal
AMMAN — Minister of State and Government Spokesperson Asma Khader on Monday said
the government was following up on conditions of around 30-35 Jordanians
believed to be missing or detained in Iraq.
“This is not the final number. Therefore, the government, in collaboration with
concerned parties and humanitarian organisations in Iraq, will continue to
gather information and soon determine the exact number of Jordanian citizens
[missing or detained],” she said during her weekly press conference.
The minister was responding to the Lower House Committee for Public Freedom and
Citizens' Rights which claimed recently that around 1,000 Jordanians were
missing or detained in Iraq.
“The figure is much lower than the committee's estimate,” she said.
However, Deputy Jamal Dmour, president of the committee, insisted yesterday that
the figure the committee announced was based on information provided by the
families of those missing or detained in Iraq. He said the committee would
continue to collect information and follow up on the issue with the authorities.
Meanwhile, Khader said Jordan hopes the several-week siege imposed on the Iraqi
city of Fallujah would be lifted soon.
The Associated Press reported that a delegation from Fallujah has been lobbying
in Amman for international pressure on the Americans to abide by a ceasefire in
the battle-scarred city.
Khader indicated that the government had not received an official request from
any side to intervene and help end the siege on Fallujah, 60 kilometers west of
Baghdad.
Mohammad Tareq, a spokesman for the governing council of Fallujah, was quoted by
the news agency as saying that US troops had killed at least 800 people and
wounded 1,800 in Fallujah.