Jordan Times
Sunday, September 30, 2001
Queen Rania denounces attacks on US, calls for US to reach out
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Her Majesty Queen Rania denounced the string of deadly terror attacks on the United States in a taped interview aired Friday and urged the nation to seize the opportunity to reach out to countries that feel enmity towards it.
“There is some anger in some parts of the world, maybe, towards the United States, because some see that the foreign policy is sometimes partial. This is a very important time for the United States to reach out to these countries,” she told NBC television in the interview, taped on Thursday and aired early Friday.
“On the one hand, you want a very aggressive campaign against the terrorists, but on the other hand, you want an aggressive campaign to reach out to the countries in the world and really address some of the legitimate concerns that they might have,” she urged.
The Queen said she was “just shocked” when she learned of the Sept. 11 attacks on US landmarks, which left more than 6,000 people dead or missing in Pennsylvania, New York and Washington.
“The scale, the scope, the sheer ugliness of these attacks is just something that one can really not quite comprehend,” she said.
In the wake of the attacks, the Queen said the Arab world stood largely with the United States.
“The overwhelming majority of countries in the Arab world completely condemn these acts and they see them as atrocities against humanity. And it's against our religion,” the Queen said, adding that His Majesty King Abdullah had expressed his support for the United States and his determination to help “fight this evil menace” of terrorism.
“I think this is a campaign that the whole world has to join in,” the Queen said. “This is more of a campaign that has to be focused, and it has to be fought on many fronts — be it military, economic, intelligence, diplomatic — and Jordan is willing to assist in any which way it can in order to win this war.”
Queen Rania said the people of the United States should know “they are not alone in this. Everybody is feeling with them. Everybody wants to help.”
She said that in visiting New York after the attacks, she witnessed a changed city, one that was moving at a much slower pace.
“I just hope that this cloud will eventually pass and people can pick up their lives,” the Queen said.
“I think Americans are very resilient people, they're people of strong faith, and they will get through it.”
Queen meets with Laura Bush
Also on Friday Queen Rania met in Washington with US First Lady Laura Bush.
According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the Queen later visited the US Red Cross where she met with its director, Bernadine Hailey. Expressing appreciation for the visit, Hailey said the Queen's visit reflected her sympathy and solidarity.
She also lauded the on-going cooperation in relief efforts between the Red Cross and the Jordan National Red Crescent Society.
While in New York, the Queen visited the Islamic Centre, where she met the chairman and members of the centre's board of trustees.
The chairman, who is Kuwait's ambassador to the US Ahmad Abul Hassan, said the Queen's visit was an important gesture of solidarity with the American people and displayed the genuine image of Islam as a religion that preaches tolerance and peace.
The Queen toured the centre's mosque and library and met with wives of Arab ambassadors and women representing the Arab and Islamic communities in the United States.