Jordan Times
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Official denies Iraqi
insurgency leaders are operating from Jordan
By Alia Shukri Hamzah
AMMAN — A government official on Monday refuted
as “unreasonable” Iraqi claims that officials of former Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein were helping fund and organise the insurgency from the Kingdom.
“Jordan's position in condemning and combating terrorism is clear and well-
known to all and it is unreasonable that the Kingdom would allow any such
support for terrorist activity from its soil,” said the government official who
preferred anonymity.
In statements published by news agencies on Sunday, the Iraqi government's
spokesperson, Leith Kubba, called on the Kingdom to extradite members of
Saddam's former regime and claimed that Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and
Syria were being used by groups backing the deadly insurgency in Iraq.
He said Iraq was seeking to sign counterterrorism accords with the three
countries.
“We are sorry to say that until now, a high number of the figures of the regime
and those who supervise terrorist groups are based in Jordan,” Kubba charged.
“We sympathise with Jordan... But we have always warned that the flames of
terrorism in Iraq, which many ignored or sympathised with... would not be
confined to Iraq and would move to other countries,” Kubba said in reference to
last Friday's rocket attack on US warships in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.
Kubba expressed hope that an agreement would be reached with Jordan to combat
terrorism, and to capture and extradite wanted people.
But according to the Jordanian official, the government has not received any
extradition requests from the Iraqi government regarding wanted people.
He also refuted claims that members of Saddam's family — who fled to Jordan
shortly after the fall of Baghdad to US forces in April 2003 — have been allowed
to conduct any political activities, saying they were permitted to enter Jordan
“purely for humanitarian reasons.”
He said Saddam's family members were told not to partake in any political
activity whilst they were in Jordan.
Kubba had criticised the Kingdom for allowing Saddam's family to conduct
political activities, which he said, were hostile to Iraq.
“The family of Saddam is there with their huge wealth. [Jordanian] law is
allowing them to support political activities. They are attempting to revive the
Baath Party. This is unacceptable and hostile from an Iraqi viewpoint,” he
added.