Jordan Times
Thursday, August 5, 2004
US never threatened to cut aid
to Jordan — Muasher
AMMAN (JT) — The US did not threaten to stop assistance to Jordan if it
maintains its position on not granting US soldiers immunity from prosecution for
war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the government said on
Wednesday.
“The US has never threatened to cut aid to Jordan at any time,” Foreign Minister
Marwan Muasher told the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
“Some congressmen have pushed in the direction of cutting off assistance to any
country that refuses to sign a bilateral agreement with the US with regard to
this issue,” Muasher said.
A Jordanian official told Agence France-Presse last month that the United States
was seeking agreement from Jordan not to prosecute US soldiers abroad, after
failing to secure their immunity at the ICC.
Muasher told Petra that the US lawmakers wanted the decision to take the form of
a special law, which, he explained, needs to be signed by the US president if it
is passed at the Congress. The president, he explained, will define the damage
inflicted on US foreign relations as a result of the legislation.
AFP said in the report that the US Senate still had to support the House vote in
favour of the law and US President George Bush must sign it into law. The agency
said Washington has signed 90 such bilateral agreements over the past two years
to circumvent the ICC.
Muasher said Jordan, which insists on its stand and right to resort to the ICC
in crimes involving forced immigration, has nothing against signing a bilateral
agreement with the US, provided that such a deal takes into consideration
Jordan's requirements in this regard, ensures that the Kingdom respects its
commitments to the court and that it can file motions against “anyone who
commits forced immigration crimes to Jordan.”
Jordanian officials have on many occasions cited Israeli rightists' demands to
transfer Palestinians to Jordan.
The US, in May, withdrew its controversial attempt to renew immunity for its
troops from war crimes prosecution at the Hague-base court for another year.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs Lincoln
Bloomfield came to Amman last month for talks with officials aimed at securing
bilateral agreements with ICC signatories to ensure its soldiers will not be
tried by the world court.
The unnamed Jordanian official told AFP that the visit “aimed at putting
pressure on us.”
Over the past decade Amman has received more than $2.3 billion in economic
assistance from Washington.
The Bush administration objects to the ICC, claiming it may interfere with
global peacekeeping obligations and could be politicised.
The court was set up to try atrocities, such as genocide and war crimes. The
Kingdom played a key role in the founding of the international tribunal.
Washington insists that world governments sign bilateral treaties with it under
which they agree not to turn over any American citizens in the event that they
are indicted by prosecutors at the court.
Also on Wednesday, Muasher said the government is pursuing all possible efforts
to secure the freedom of Jordanians detained in Israeli jails.
Recent diplomatic contacts have so far succeeded in the release of three
detainees out of a total of 24, of whom 21 are being held for involvement in
security-related activities against Israel before the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli
peace treaty, according to the minister.
Muasher said the fact that the cases involving the Jordanian detainees date back
before the treaty was signed, requires that the detainees' files be closed.
Since 1994, diplomatic efforts have succeeded in contacting Jordanians detained
in Israeli jails or convicted for taking part in anti-Israeli activities, and
have managed to secure the release of several detainees.
The last time contacts with detained Jordanians occurred was in July 2003, when
Jordan's Consul in Tel Aviv Mohammad Zanati visited the Israeli Askalan prison
and met detainees to enquire about their condition.
Describing the Jordanian-Israeli contacts over the detainees issue as a
tug-of-war process, Muasher said efforts would continue, despite the
difficulties.
The minister also revealed that a recent scheduled visit to Israel by a
Jordanian delegation was postponed until further notice due to the internal
Israeli situation.