Jordan Times
Sunday, November 13, 2005
King says terror won't divide Jordan, Iraq
AMMAN (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah on
Saturday said the Kingdom will not permit terrorists to divide Jordanians and
Iraqis.
Iraqis living in Jordan, he said, are “dear brothers” who live in dignity in
their second homeland. “Their security is our security and we will not accept
that any harm should come to them,” he said.
In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, King Abdullah warned that no
one should exploit Wednesday's terrorist acts to harm Jordanian-Iraqi relations
and said the Kingdom will continue to be a safe haven for every Iraqi who is
forced, by circumstances in the neighbouring country, to come and live in
Jordan.
The King said counterterrorism efforts should include confronting those who
justify terror or incite others to commit acts of terror. Those who incite and
justify terrorism and those who actually commit acts of terror are equally
guilty for the crime, he said.
The King told Faisal Shboul, director general of Petra, that any individual,
group or party that justifies terrorism, that advocates violence against
innocents or that defends such acts and ideas is unacceptable.
The Monarch praised the rapid reaction of those who responded to the attacks,
which killed 57 people and injured scores. “Their response was excellent,” he
said. “I would like to thank again every member of the security apparatus, the
civil defence and the medical community who helped evacuate the injured.”
“I know very well the courage of Jordanians, and their response to these events
has exceeded all expectations,” he said. “Jordanians are fearless, and terrorism
will not affect their morale or their determination. The entire world saw them
sweep through the streets in anger to challenge terrorists.”
King Abdullah said terrorism will not prevent Jordan from proceeding with its
march towards development and openness.
The Kingdom's motto, he said, is “law, openness and security.” He added that the
crime will not force Jordan to become a police state, because Jordanians do not
want to live in a police state. Instead, he said, Jordan would seek a balance
between freedom and security that reassures both Jordanians and their guests.
The King said the terrorist attacks were a turning point for Jordanians in
dealing with supporters of and sympathisers with terrorism. Jordanians, he said,
took a stand against terrorism, responding to the attacks with a “firm no” when
they rallied to demonstrate their outrage at terror and terrorists.
The Monarch said a war is ongoing between the majority of Muslims who believe in
the true essence of Islam and a misguided group who distort its principles,
undermine the image of Muslims and destroy our civilisation.
“We have seen the results of what the terrorists perpetrated in Amman,” he said.
“We saw dismembered children and women — Jordanians and Jordan's guests. Is
there any Jordanian, Arab or Muslim who, after that day, can justify these
crimes?”
King Abdullah said Jordan, its people, security, stability and achievements were
the targets of the attacks. These attacks, he said, targeted Jordan, its
message, its culture and Islam in equal measure. He said terrorists empty Islam
of its very meaning every time they kill a child, a woman or any innocent
person. All their acts, he stressed, are crimes that contradict the principles
of Islam, a faith of tolerance and moderation that eschews violence and
extremism.
He explained that the most appropriate response to terrorism would be for
Jordanians to strive for solidarity and excellence while denouncing extremists
and their supporters.
He pointed out that Jordan is not the only victim of terrorism, saying that “the
dismembered bodies that we saw in Amman is a scene we also witnessed in Iraq,
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco and other countries of the world.”
He added that fighting terrorism is the responsibility of the entire
international community.
Jordan, he said, “will not be lenient with terrorists, and we will bring them to
justice.” He added that the Kingdom will not accept anyone promoting takfiri
ideology. “We will enhance our national counterterror strategy, and we hope each
citizen would be an active partner in this so that we abort terrorists' plots
and expose their evil intentions.”
King Abdullah emphasised that takfiris “have no place among us” and said that
freedom of speech in Jordan should be used to promote love and respect for
others, tolerance and justice and to disseminate Arab Islamic values against
hatred, violence and terrorism.
Jordan, he said, is for all its citizens, and “we will support any effort to
entrench the concepts of justice, equality and respect for others' opinions
under the umbrella of the Jordanian Constitution, from which we will accept no
deviations.”
In response to whether or not the deteriorating regional situation has
encouraged terrorism, King Abdullah said: “While violence and bloodshed, as well
as the frustration many people feel may seem to give terrorists an opening to
justify their criminal acts, I wonder what that has to do with the killing of
innocent people.”
The King asked: “Who benefits from killing a creative person like world-renowned
director Moustapha Akkad, who has introduced many people in the world to the
true values of our religion through his movie `The Message?' And what good can
come from killing innocent people and children celebrating the wedding of a
relative or from murdering guests passing by Jordan or working here?”
The Monarch said Jordan will not permit terrorists to impose their agenda on
Jordan. Nor, he said, will terrorism force Jordan to alter its strategy or its
position towards Iraq and Palestine.
“We want to see an independent Palestinian state and a unified, secure, strong
Iraq as soon as possible,” he said. “I also want to assure the Iraqis among us
that they are among family. We will not allow Zarqawi or any other terrorist to
create division or dissension among us. Jordan will continue to be the safe
haven for Iraqis.”
“Terrorists don't want us to be united; we answer that Jordanians and Iraqis are
one family that cannot be broken,” he said.
He said that Iraqis and Palestinians are among those who were most outraged over
Wednesday's events, and that Iraqis and Palestinians had also been killed in the
attacks. He said they stand with Jordanians in confronting terrorism, along with
the rest of the Arab world and Jordan's friends in the international community.
“Jordan is not alone in fighting this scourge,” he said.
King Abdullah expressed confidence in Jordan's security services that, he said,
work tirelessly with the highest sense of professionalism and responsibility.
On Wednesday night, the terrorists chose the easiest target, he said, adding
that although terrorists, particularly Al Qaeda elements, did manage to spill
the blood of innocents once, they have already realised, on more than one
occasion, the security services' ability to abort their plots.
King Abdullah said the security services were gathering evidence and analysing
data, and that the bodies of the attackers have been identified and will be used
to determine their identities, but that it is still too soon to announce the
full details of the investigation.
However, he said, the investigation has revealed that the Zarqawi network
altered its tactics in this attack. In operations previously aborted by
Jordanian security services, the group had recruited Jordanians, but this time
had depended on non-Jordanians.
He said that the investigation so far has shown that the perpetrators were three
suicide bombers carrying explosive belts containing shrapnel in order to cause
as many fatalities and injuries as possible.
`Ideological struggle'
Meanwhile, King Abdullah told CNN's Brent Sadler in an interview yesterday that
Al Qaeda does not only threaten Jordan, but also the entire international
community.
“This is not a battle between a Jordanian-born or Jordan or different countries.
This is an ideological struggle between extremists that have this perverse view
of Islam against the rest of us moderate Muslims,” the King said.
The Monarch added that the problems Jordan have had with Al Qaeda happened
before 9/11 attacks on the US because the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan represents
descendants of the Prophet Mohammad — the moderate Islam.
“We have always been targeted. Myself. My family. Jordan was targeted before
9/11, before Afghanistan, before Iraq. And last year we launched what was called
the Amman Message, which was a direct offensive against these people to say that
they have nothing to do with Islam,” he said.
Fighting terrorism is a challenge that many other religions will have to face,
the Monarch stressed, warning: “If these extremists continue the way they have
been doing, we all pay the price.”
“These people have perpetrated horrendous crimes from Bali on one side of the
world to the United States on the other. Arab, Muslim, Western, Eastern nations
have all suffered from this. So it is a challenge that we Muslims are taking
very seriously and is one we are continuing to fight. But we need to do it
together. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists — all of us need to come together
and stand up against extremism.”
King Abdullah said Jordanians' outcry and rallies in unity against terrorism
“allow Jordan one step forward in the battle against these extremists.”
He added that the struggle against Al Qaeda is not an issue of politics.
“It is not an issue of Jordanian policy. They are out to get everybody. More
Muslims have lost their lives to these extremists than all other religions put
together,” he said.
The Monarch said the majority of Iraqis in Jordan are “our brothers.”
“They are very pleased to be here. This is something that we as Jordanians are
extending to the Iraqis in their very difficult time, a safe haven from the
difficulties that they are facing inside of Iraq,” he said.
The King, meanwhile, said suicide bombers were foreigners.
“We have some leads and obviously we are pretty sure that the suicide bombers
are foreigners. Information, if you listen to what Zarqawi says and our initial
findings, [show that the attackers] are Iraqis. So there are only two logistical
places that they could have come across: Either the Iraqi or the Syrian border.”