Jordan Times
Sunday, October 7, 2001

Jordan can help US anti-terror campaign with intelligence: Prime minister

“Jordan has logistical, intelligence and political possibilities, and will have a role in the fields of intelligence, information-sharing and politics,” Abul Ragheb said in an interview with Jordan Television on Friday.

Abul Ragheb also said Jordan planned on “amending” its penal code to meet the challenges of terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

“Our penal code does not cover all the needs that we are confronting now, and there will be amendments to deal with these issues, namely on how to deal and punish terrorist acts,” he said.

Legislation is also expected on bank accounts that could be used by suspected terrorists, plane hijackings and border infiltrations, he said, adding that all these were “new” issues that needed to be addressed.

Asked if Jordan has been asked by the US to hand over any suspects in connection with international investigations into the terror attacks, Abul Ragheb said: “No, We have not been asked.”

But he said that an “investigation is currently under way with some parties linked to Al Qaeda” in addition to the trial in Amman of a Jordanian-American accused of links to Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda is the military network of Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama Ben Laden who has been named by the United States as the prime suspect in the airborne suicide attacks in the US.

Abul Ragheb did not elaborate on the investigation under way and when asked if more trials should be expected in Jordan he said: “I prefer not to talk about this now.”

Raed Hijazi, who stands accused of membership in Al Qaeda, was sentenced to death in absentia in September 2000 during the trial of 28 Islamists charged with planning bomb attacks on Christian, Jewish and US targets in Jordan.

Eight members of the group were condemned to death, although the sentence of two of them was later commuted to life imprisonment, while 14 were handed various prison terms, and six were acquitted.

But the court acquitted all the defendants of membership in Al Qaeda for lack of evidence.

In line with Jordanian law, Hijazi is now facing a new trial — on the same charges — after his arrest in Syria in November and his extradition to the Kingdom. The retrial opened in May.

Hijazi has denied any links with Ben Laden.

The New York Times newspaper reported on Sept. 18 that US federal investigators were examining a possible link between Hijazi and the suicide hijackers who crashed planes into the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

According to the report, the investigators have connected Hijazi, a former cab driver who lived in Boston, and two suspected hijackers, Ahmad Ibrahim Ghamdi and Satam Suqami.

Abul Ragheb also said that Iraq “has no links” with the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.

“Iraq has no links whatsoever with what happened in New York and Washington,” he said.

He stressed that talks last week in Washington between His Majesty King Abdullah and US President George W. Bush “clearly discussed that the Arabs and Muslims are not responsible for what happened.”

Abul Ragheb said news reports in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks have been awash with commentary by analysts, politicians and lobby groups in Washington saying “the time is ripe to strike Iraq.”

“All the Arab countries are opposed to this. It is in our interest for Iraq to be stable, and we will continue to strive to remove the (UN) sanctions imposed on Iraq,” the premier said.

“The Jordanians, Egyptians and Saudis who discussed this with the United States have all stressed that Arab countries should not be dealt with militarily or linked to what happened in New York and Washington,” he said.

He said the world community should deal with Iraq in a “new manner to help find solutions to its problems.”

Arab governments have also said concerns that an Arab state like Iraq might be targeted in a later phase of anti-terrorist strikes had been alleviated.

Abul Ragheb said Jordan has been assured by the United States that their priority is to deal with Al Qaeda.

Referring to the Palestine question, Abul Ragheb reiterated Jordan's stand and its demand for an immediate end to Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people, underlining the need for serious efforts to defuse tension and the return to the negotiationing table.

As to the US handling of the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the prime minister said “to be fair to Washington's stand one must admit that the US administration disassociated the Arabs and Muslims from the attacks in New York and Washington.”

He also commended Washington's position vis-à-vis the Palestine question and its efforts towards a final settlement within the framework of international legitimacy and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 as well as the principles of the Madrid conferance based on the land-for-peace formula.

“By reaffirming the Palestinian people's right to an independent state on Palestinian soil, with Jerusalem as its capital, the US stand has given a push to the peace process,” stressed the prime minister.

With reference to local politics, Abul Ragheb said the government is seeking to activate political party life “because political development and political awareness in Jordan requires openness between the government and the political parties and civil society institutions.”

“With His Majesty King Abdullah's approval the government introduced a number of temporary laws on matters that can not tolerate any delay, especially laws related to economic and political issues as well as laws directly related to the Jordanian society,” added the prime minister.

He said “we have a temporary Elections Law which was approved by the King, and we are planning to undertake measures related to parliamentary elections. We have created new electoral districts, added new lists of voters and issued new elections identity cards to facilitate a fair election process, and it is hoped that the necessary measures will be finalised in time for free and fair elections before the middle of next year.”

“After accomplishing this stage, the elections will be held, but there is no intention of delaying the polls further,” said the prime minister.

On the economy, he said the government, acting on the King's directives, is drawing up programmes and laying down plans to develop the national economy despite the current regional political situation.

According to Abul Ragheb, Jordan's economic growth is estimated at 4.2 per cent, its exports rose by 18 per cent compared to last year, investments increased by 38 per cent, industrial output rose by 10 per cent, the construction sector by 25 per cent, real estate by 10 per cent, transactions on the Amman Financial Market by 70 per cent, and tourism, prior to the attacks on the US, rose by seven per cent, with Arab visitors and tourists from the region increasing by 30 per cent.

There are indications that the national economy is forging ahead, the premier said. He cited as examples of progress projects like the gas pipeline from Egypt to Jordan and Syria through Aqaba, the Disi Water Conveyance Project to be implemented in conjunction with the private sector, the Iraqi-Jordanian oil pipeline, electricity projects, and the development of many areas that open the way for private sector participation and the creation of jobs.

He said visits by Cabinet ministers to different governorates provided the government with a clear picture of the needs of the country's citizens, adding that the government has drafted a three-year plan to implement services projects estimated at JD450 million.

About the country's unemployment problem, the prime minister said it should be tackled with a new approach because it is illogical to see 400,000 or 500,0000 non-Jordanians working in the Kingdom while there are between 170,000 and 180,000 jobless citizens, many of whom carry university or community college degrees.

He said the government, through the Vocational Training Corporation, has launched a large training programme for the unemployed, and has already graduated 550 trainess.

Abul Ragheb also said the Economic Consultative Council has been entrusted with the task of drawing up a new agricultural strategy to deal with the problems facing farmers.

Between 20 and 25 per cent of Jordanians are linked in one way or another the the Kingdom's agricultural sector activities.

October 7, 2001