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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday received a telephone call from Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to a Royal Court statement. 

Both leaders reviewed bilateral relations and regional developments, the statement said.    

DEAD SEA –  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Tuesday said there are no new US efforts to revive peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. 

At a joint press conference on the sidelines of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe conference at the Dead Sea with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Judeh noted that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s upcoming visit to the region “will only be an attempt to contain the current crisis after the recent Israeli escalations”.

“There are no talks about trilateral or quadrilateral meetings at the moment,” said the minister, who noted that Kerry is scheduled to meet His Majesty King Abdullah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu within the coming few days. 

“These efforts are meant to contain the crisis rather than find a permanent solution to it,” Judeh said, noting that Jordanian efforts will continue to help the Palestinians establish their state on their national soil.

“We want to see the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he told reporters.

He cited the Kingdom’s historic role in Jerusalem, given His Majesty King Abdullah’s role as custodian of holy Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem. 

“No water, border, or security solutions can take place without Jordan, and Jordan’s national interest in this respect is emphasised.”

The minister noted that Jordan’s “direct” contact with Israel is part of its diplomatic efforts, saying that the country will tap into its diplomatic and legal options if Israeli escalations continue.  

Steinmeier also stressed the importance of the two-state solution as the only path to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, warning that the recent escalations in the holy land threaten the region with more chaos and insecurity. 

On Syria, both sides agreed that a political solution is the only way to end the suffering of the ravaged nation’s people. 

The German official voiced his “deep” respect for His Majesty’s efforts to maintain regional peace. 

“We are aware that the Middle East crises are directly affecting Jordan, mainly the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, Daesh and the Syrian refugee issue, which is considered the world’s largest problem since World War II,” noted Steinmeier. 

AMMAN — Ayman Hariri, a young Syrian residing at Zaatari Refugee Camp, was among several children invited to display their artwork and give audiences a glimpse of their heritage at the embassy of Canada in Amman on Tuesday.

“I am really honoured that my work is showcased at the Canadian embassy. I painted an old window to show my forefathers’ heritage and to remind people of its beauty,” he told The Jordan Times at the residence of the Canadian ambassador in Amman. 

Hariri was invited alongside his peers from Zaatari camp and Jordanian children coming from east Amman’s Ashrafiyeh Centre to have lunch with Canadian Ambassador to Jordan Bruno Saccomani in celebration of their work. 

A total of 90 works of art created by the children were displayed and offered for auction at the event, called “Canada Gives Thanks,” which was organised by the Canadian embassy in Jordan and Iraq in collaboration with Ashrafiyeh Centre and UNHCR.

The proceeds from the art auction will benefit Ashrafiyeh Centre’s art programme and youth activities in Zaatari camp.

Saccomani said Tuesday’s event was based on Canada’s Thanksgiving holiday, which took place last week.

“Families in Canada gather to share their successes and show their happiness to be together as a family, and most importantly to take a moment of pause and to say thank you and give back,” he told The Jordan Times.  

Saccomani mentioned that over 1,000 guests from the government, businesses, embassies and NGOs were invited to the embassy for the exhibition.

The ambassador recalled that he and his wife started this project three years ago when they first arrived in Jordan, adding that he was touched by the willingness of young children at Zaatari, some 90km northeast of Amman, to express themselves through art. 

“The best day as an ambassador is to be surrounded by children and I feel that I am providing them with an opportunity to see hope. It is all about hope and they need to feel dignified,” he said. “I also thought to focus on less fortunate Jordanian children who have less opportunities because of the influx of refugees.”

The Canadian diplomat commended the Kingdom’s efforts in hosting refugees. 

“The Syrian crisis is a crisis that no one could have predicted that it will last so long. Jordan, as great neighbours, stood up in the hour of need of their neighbours and accepted them. 

Frankly all of us across the world and in Canada are in absolute awe of Jordan’s capacity to withstand this incredible influx of refugees. Jordan is an example of openness that is so needed everywhere and perhaps in the region,” he added.  

Rana Snij, the artist in charge of teaching the children, said art can be an important tool for therapy because it helps children to express their feelings. 

“It is important to teach art for children at an early age. For my part, I learn from the children because they do not have boundaries and are not scared to experiment. They share their sufferings and hope in one picture,” she told The Jordan Times.   

Ahmad Horani, a 10-year-old Jordanian, said he enjoyed painting and voiced hopes that these activities will continue. 

Zaina Jamous said she was excited when she learned that her painting would be sold for a good cause. 

“I painted a big flower and I wanted to tell everyone that this flower is not for me but for other people,” the nine-year-old said.

AMMAN — UNESCO on Tuesday launched the second phase of the project “SIQ STABILITY — Mitigation of Immediate Hazards in the Siq of Petra” at the National Library Department, in cooperation with the Italian embassy.

“The Siq project, experimental in nature, adopted a pioneering approach supported by national and international experts, and this resulted in scientific research and data, which provided a solid base... for mitigation interventions to be implemented this year and the next,” UNESCO Representative to Jordan Costanza Farina said at the ceremony.

From 2012 to 2015, UNSECO Amman engaged with national authorities in the first phase of the Italian-funded project “SIQ STABILITY — Sustainable Monitoring Techniques for Assessing Instability of Slopes in the Siq of Petra”. 

“The key added value of the project is translating into practice the shared vision of Jordan, Italy and UNESCO for the protection of heritage sites from disaster risks... conflict or natural hazards,” Farina added.

She commended His Majesty King Abdullah’s efforts to preserve, sustain and promote Petra — one of the first sites inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List for Jordan — and other archaeological locations in Jordan. 

She thanked the Department of Antiquities (DoA) and the Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) for supporting the project since its beginning.

A video was screened during the ceremony, showcasing the monitoring techniques installed in Petra and the results of the first phase of the Siq stability project.

Speaking at the ceremony, Labour Minister and acting tourism minister Nidal Katamine said that if there were no attempts to solve the problems of falling debris and rocks, not only would the site have been affected but tourist movement as well. 

He said this is Italy’s 13th mission in protecting cultural sites in Jordan and referred to past civilisations which have left a mark in the Kingdom, such as the Romans and the Byzantines.

For his part, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said, “...the mission to keep it [the Siq] as it is, to observe, study and to avoid risk from all points of view is a mission [that is] very relevant for one of the most important archaeological sites of the world.”

“We are in fact two countries with ancient civilisations, with very good relations in the present days,” he added.

“This... cooperation is so good also because of the fact that we share a common past and a common interest in cultural heritage.”

PAP Deputy Chief Commissioner Emad Hijazeen told The Jordan Times that the most important step in the second phase is to sustain the project to ensure that it remains ongoing.

The photo exhibition “The Net of the Siq: a Journey through the SIQ STABILITY project” was inaugurated at the conclusion of the ceremony.

The photos showcase the activities undertaken by UNESCO in cooperation with DoA and PAP in the Siq of Petra, some 235km south of Amman, for the past six years. 

Examples of the three-dimensional documentation of Petra through advanced laser scanning techniques are also displayed at the exhibition, which will continue until late next week.

AMMAN — Police on Tuesday arrested a man who allegedly killed his cousin over a family feud in Naour earlier in the day, official sources said.

The 31-year-old victim was reportedly shot in front of his house shortly after midnight on Tuesday, a senior official source and Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“The suspect fled and was arrested by police a few hours later,” the senior source told The Jordan Times.

According to initial confessions by the suspect, the source maintained, “he shot his relative because of a family feud that escalated a few hours before the murder.”

The suspect went to the victim’s home and asked him to come out and “the minute he appeared from his house he shot him once in the face and left,” the source added.

A postmortem, conducted by pathologists Issa Gheishan and Seif Hamarneh, concluded that the victim died of a single bullet that penetrated his face and exited his skull, a medical source told The Jordan Times.

Following the murder, “the victim’s family reportedly set the suspect’s house ablaze in retaliation,” according to the Sartawi.

The spokesperson told The Jordan Times that police forces “immediately intervened and secured an atwa between the two families”.

“We have brought the situation under control and prevented any further escalations,” Sartawi said.

The importance of atwa, according to tribal traditions, is derived from its ability to obligate both parties to refrain from violence until a final reconciliation is reached.

The man was ordered detained for 14 days at a correctional and rehabilitation centre by Madaba Criminal Court Prosecutor Muwafaq Jbour pending further investigations.

AMMAN — A number of incentives for IT companies in different areas are soon to be expected, greatly helping to increase their competitiveness and exports, the Information and Communications Technology Association (ICT) of Jordan (int@j) said Tuesday. 

The association, which has been working with stakeholders and authorities in the industry to come up with incentives, said they are needed to support the sector and improve exports.

They will be provided to IT companies working in the fields of software development, mobile applications, e-content, outsourcing, digital gaming, data processing and training in the IT sector, among others, according to int@j.

The incentives are expected to include a reduction of income tax on IT companies, a reduction in sales tax, and customs exemptions on items needed  to start businesses and operations, the association said in a statement to The Jordan Times.

“These incentives are very important. They will make Jordan more investment friendly … [they] will also support Jordan’s efforts in strengthening its knowledge-based economy as IT companies will become more competitive int@j said.

The incentives expected to be announced soon will benefit both existing companies and new investments, it said.

There are some 500-600 companies working in the ICT sector in Jordan.

According to latest available figures, the sector registered positive growth in 2013, with revenues growing by 3 per cent from $617 million in 2012 to $638 million.

Of the sector’s total revenues, the domestic market accounted for $313 million in 2013, registering a 1 per cent decline from 2012. 

Conversely, exports grew by 8 per cent in 2013, from $300 million the previous year to $324 million, according to a survey by int@j.

AMMAN — The Amman prosecutor general on Tuesday ordered detention of Chief Editor of Al Balad news website Osama Al Ramini “for violating the Electronic Crime Law”, the Jordan Press Association (JPA) said on Tuesday.

Ramini was detained in Salt prison for 14 days pending further investigation following a lawsuit against him for publishing an article deemed by authorities as non-objective and full of slander, JPA President Tareq Momani told The Jordan Times.

It was not clear what the article was about, but media sources said the lawsuit was filed against Ramini by an investor while others said it was filed by Tafileh Education Department after the website published an article that the department deemed “defamatory an unprofessional”.

The JPA said it was following up on the case and called for Ramini’s immediate release on bail.

“We reject the detention of journalists over published material. This contradicts Jordan’s efforts to foster media freedoms,” Momani stressed.

“The e-crimes law and other relevant laws should not be misused to restrict media freedom,” he added.

AMMAN — The Greater Irbid Municipality on Tuesday implemented a crackdown, in cooperation with security institutions, on street stalls, and fruit and vegetable vendors, which resulted in arresting eight wanted suspects and issuing tens of fines against violating vendors.

A security source told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the apprehended suspects were transferred to relevant security centres.

Zuheir Ababneh, market manager at the municipality, said 122 fines have been issued since the beginning of the week against vendors for showcasing goods on sidewalks in a way that hinders pedestrian and vehicle movements.

AMMAN — Four Jordanian footballers from the southern club of That Ras survived a serious car accident on the Amman-Karak highway on Monday evening, the club’s spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Ayman Shlouh, who is also the club’s secretary general, said the accident took place near the Swaqa area.

“The four players were heading to the southern city of Karak to join their teammates in training,” Shlouh told The Jordan Times over the phone.

The official said the players’ vehicle hit a huge truck and they then feared being hit by another vehicle from behind, but they all survived without suffering any injuries.

Shlouh said the club, in ninth place in the Jordan Professional Football League, have not taken a decision on whether to enroll the four players — Hatem Aqel, Ahmad Abdul Haleem, Mutaz Yaseen and Hazem Jawdat — in their upcoming training in preparation for their Friday match against Ramtha.

AMMAN — Firefighters on Tuesday extinguished a blaze that erupted in an eatery on Medina Munawara Street. Civil Defence Department (CDD) personnel reported two injured people, one with second-degree burns while the other with mild burns and breathing difficulties, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The department added that one of the two cases was taken to the University of Jordan Hospital, while the other was transferred to Al Bashir Hospital, and their condition was listed as moderate. According to the CDD, the fire was caused by a gas leak.