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AMMAN — A corporal serving at the northern military region was promoted to sergeant in recognition of his efforts in finding a girl who went missing in Kufranja on Friday.

Corporal Mohammad Zu’bi was promoted based on directives by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben.

A total of 250 soldiers from the northern military region had been deployed to search for three-year-old Lamis Bani Saeed when she was reported missing.

AMMAN — The Families and Friends of Persons with Disabilities (FFSPD) held its annual charity lunch on Saturday.

HRH Princess Muna, honorary president of FFSPD, attended the event along with HRH Princess Majda Raad and Minister of Social Development Reem Abu Hassan.

FFSPD members highlighted the society’s achievements and challenges.

The FFSPD serves people with intellectual, physical and multiple mild, moderate and severe disabilities, aged from infancy to 43 years.

Princess Muna honoured the society’s supporters and long-term partners.

AMMAN — Interior Minister Hussein Majali met over the weekend with Maan dignitaries to discuss the riots that started in the southern governorate last week which left one person dead and several people injured.

Meanwhile, His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF), on Saturday instructed authorities to send a helicopter to evacuate a man injured during Friday clashes between outlaws and security forces and treat him at King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman at the expense of JAF, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The riots in Maan began on Tuesday following the death of a citizen during a police chase of wanted suspects who attacked police guarding a court building. Angry citizens blocked the road with burning tyres, and several shops and banks were attacked and vandalised following last week’s deadly incident.

Majali, accompanied by Justice Minister Bassam Talhouni, discussed with a committee formed by Maan dignitaries and titled “Reform and Reconciliation Committee [RCC]”, the reasons that led to escalating the problem in Maan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported Saturday.

Majali stressed that security forces are only targeting 19 outlaws and wanted individuals in Maan, Petra reported.

“The state must protect the system and Maan residents from this group of outlaws by enforcing law and order,” Petra quoted Majali as saying.

Meanwhile, the RCC members stressed during the meeting with Majali and Talhouni that the governorate faces several problems including poverty, unemployment and the “existence of a limited group of people with bad behaviour and criminal records that deals with drugs”.

“Some outlawed groups and organisations support these groups to resist police and Gendarmerie Forces in an attempt to destabilise the security of the Kingdom,” the RCC charged.

The RCC stressed that Maan citizens “will not allow anyone to use them for their personal agendas and at the same time called on the government to prepare a comprehensive plan to bring back normal life in Maan”, Petra added.

On Friday evening, four people were shot, including one in critical condition, named by Petra as Faraj Fanatseh, following a confrontation with police and Gendarmerie Forces.

“Two of the injured were transferred to hospitals in Amman and the remaining two are being treated in Maan,” an official source from Maan Government Hospital told The Jordan Times.

“I live around 500 metres from the city centre and every day in the evening there are confrontations between security forces and rioters, mostly shooting at each other and burning tyres,” a Maan resident told The Jordan Times Saturday.

Mayor of Maan Majed Sharari said Saturday that “the situation is under control and that an operations room works around-the-clock to monitor the situation”.

“We have met with officials and everyone is leaning towards calming things down for the benefit of all,” Sharari told The Jordan Times.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Feisal on Saturday reiterated the importance of the Special Operations Forces Exhibition & Conference (SOFEX) locally, regionally and internationally, as it meets the basic needs of all countries.

SOFEX, he said, is characterised by a focus on the latest advancements in special forces and national security equipment since they are fundamental for each country to enhance its safety.

In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Prince Feisal, the chairman of SOFEX, said the support of His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF), was the direct reason for the international success of SOFEX since its inauguration in 1996.

SOFEX, which will be held for the 10th time this May, is the largest defence exhibition in the world and the only one in the region specialised in this field, Prince Feisal told Petra.

“It is the best place to showcase the most developed technology of defence and special operations forces,” he added.

“The exhibition provides an opportunity for small- and medium-sized enterprises and the biggest international companies in the defence industry to meet with leaders and decision makers of governments and armies of the world,” the prince noted.

A total of 362 companies from 35 countries have confirmed their participation in SOFEX 2014, which is scheduled to open on May 5, SOFEX Managing Director Amer Tabbaa said in previous remarks.

The exhibition, which will run through May 8, will be held on a 75,000-square-metre area at the King Abdullah I Airbase near Amman, with local, regional and international companies showcasing the latest special operations and technology equipment.

On the sidelines of the exhibition, a specialised conference is held where international leaders, experts and specialists discuss modern international security issues, the latest developments in the region and the world and the role of technology in dealing with these events, Prince Feisal said, commenting on SOFEX’s role in fighting terrorism.

Country leaders, defence ministers, army chiefs and senior officers from around the world attend the conference to work on building bridges of understanding and cooperation to foster international peace and security, he added.

Turning to the role of the army in SOFEX, Prince Feisal said the JAF provides everything that can contribute to the success of the event and benefits from the exhibition in developing its own capabilities.

“SOFEX provides many opportunities for joint cooperation between Jordan and other countries to benefit from advanced Jordanian defence equipment and technology, such as the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau [KADDB] innovations,” he added.

KADDB covers part of JAF’s needs of equipment and defence weapons, which are manufactured according to international standards, Prince Feisal told Petra. 

KADDB also contributes to forming a solid basis for long-term joint investments in the international defence industry by establishing partnerships with distinguished international companies, he said.

SOFEX provides a suitable atmosphere to acquaint international firms with local companies and their manufacturing and marketing capabilities, the prince added.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Saturday underlined the need for public awareness to deter parties “with special agendas” from harming the country.

He told community leaders and residents of a town in the eastern desert that the Kingdom is going through difficult circumstances that some might try to take advantage of to implement their plots, adding that all Jordanians are required to help overcome such challenges.

During the meeting with community leaders and notables from Manshiyat Bani Hassan District in Mafraq Governorate, Ensour stressed that justice, hard work and honesty are among the highly needed qualities from all nowadays to spare Jordan the impact of regional turbulence.

Ensour also attributed the country’s security and stability amidst the turbulent region to Jordan’s wise leadership and the awareness of its people.  

He also said that the government will be committed to rendering all its pledges to projects on the ground and live up people’s expectations from the executive authority.  

The premier also said that mistakes are in every country, including Jordan, where there are also achievements.

Ensour also pledged to eradicate corruption, saying that his government would firmly act on any corruption case.

The premier also donated JD10,000 to Manshiyat Bani Hassan Sports Club that is currently playing within the Jordan Professional League. 

Ensour was accompanied by a ministerial team as well as several MPs and senators.  

AMMAN — A book festival in downtown Amman attracted a “great audience” who sought to quench their thirst for reading and were encouraged by the low prices of books, organisers said Saturday.

Organised by the Greater Amman Municipality and Uzbakiyet Amman from Thursday to Saturday, at Hashemite Square and the Roman Theatre, the “Our Mother Amman, A City that Reads” festival attracted book lovers mainly from surrounding areas in downtown Amman, according to the supervisor of Uzbakiyet Amman, Hussein Yassein.

Yassein said 8,000 books were sold during the first two days, about 60 per cent of which were novels.

“This generation of readers reminds me of the 1980s generation, who loved reading more than anything,” he told The Jordan Times in an interview on Saturday.

Uzbakiyet Amman, a downtown bookshop, is named after the Uzbakiyyeh Wall in Cairo, where 132 bookshops are located.

“The opening ceremony was covered by local and international satellite channels such as Roya TV and BBC, while the official Jordan TV channel was absent,” Ghazi Theibeh, the media spokesperson of Uzbakiyet Amman, said.

Theibeh urged private and public institutions to support such festivals for their important role in promoting reading in the country, thanking Cairo Amman Bank and Safeir Press for supporting the three-day book fair.

The organisers mainly depended on volunteers in holding the festival, he said, adding that 15 volunteers participated in the fair, which consisted of 55 booths showcasing used and new books in English and Arabic covering a wide array of topics.

Nayef Qabain, one of the volunteers, said the fair encouraged some downtown residents to take up reading as a hobby.

“A young man came and told me that he doesn’t usually read and asked me to choose a book to encourage him to read,” Qabain told The Jordan Times.

According to Yassein, Uzbakiyet Amman held 35 book fairs in 2013 and has organised 20 fairs since the beginning of 2014. The 55 exhibitions attracted around 150,000 visitors.

Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji, who inaugurated the event on Thursday, paid an unannounced visit on the second day and discussed the possibility of organising similar fairs in different areas of Amman with Yassein.

Um Haytham, a visitor to the book fair, told The Jordan Times that the festival was a great way to “attract different age groups of readers through the variety of books available at affordable prices”.

“Readers nowadays are fewer than in the past due to technological progress that has diverted people from reading,” Um Haytham noted.

Mohammad Attal, another visitor, said he knew about the event through Uzbakiyyeh’s Facebook page, and would like to see more festivals organised at universities.

“People have more important things to care about than books due to the economic conditions these days, but this festival offered visitors an opportunity to buy books at low rates,” Attal added.

AMMAN — The government on Saturday said the natural gas supply from Egypt is still completely halted and Egyptian authorities are working on fixing the pipeline.

“We have no information on when the gas supply will be resumed,” Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed told The Jordan Times.

Egypt’s natural gas pipeline, which supplies Jordan, was bombed several times since the ouster of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. 

The latest attack on the Arab Gas Pipeline in El Arish was on January 28 this year, which marked the last time Jordan received gas from Egypt.

The minister said the gas cut costs Jordan about $3 million per day, with the country resorting to more expensive heavy fuel and diesel.

“We asked the Egyptian authorities to speed up repairs on the pipeline, as resuming gas supplies will significantly help reduce pressure on Jordan’s energy bill. We hope that will be done soon,” Hamed said.

Jordan, which annually imports about 97 per cent of its energy needs, is signatory to a deal with Egypt under which it is supposed to provide 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Meanwhile, the minister said a specialised committee is still studying the tariff proposed by Enefit, a joint Estonian-Malaysian consortium, to sell electricity from its 553-megawatt oil shale-fuelled power plant to the government.

“We expect to reply to the proposed price soon,” he said.

Once the government agrees on a price for buying electricity from the projected $2 billion power plant, a power purchase agreement will be signed, paving the way for starting work on the facility, which is expected to be operational in 2017.

AMMAN — Newly re-elected Jordan Press Association (JPA) President Tareq Momani on Saturday said he will intensify efforts to find solutions for the difficult financial conditions of newspapers. 

He pledged that the JPA will push for amending laws to further enhance press freedom, which witnessed a decline in 2013.

“The priority during the next tenure is to work hard to enhance the living conditions of journalists employed at newspapers, especially since print media is going through very difficult financial conditions, coupled with an increased reliance on online media,” Momani told The Jordan Times.

The JPA has plans to enhance the capabilities of its members, he said, adding that it will focus on training journalists on the latest trends in the profession.

The association will also work to amend laws regulating the media — such as the Press and Publications Law — to ensure that press freedom is safeguarded, Momani noted.

“Working on all fronts to remove obstacles against press freedom remains a top priority, and the syndicate will work with all stakeholders to address these obstacles.”

The Al Rai managing editor was officially announced JPA president on Friday after securing the majority of votes — 407 compared with 268 for his closest rival, Rakan Saaideh.

Nabil Ghzawi followed with 16 votes.

Turnout for the polls was high, with 713 out of 832 eligible members casting their ballots.

The association has 1,058 members. 

Ten journalists — Fakhri Abu Hamda, Mohammad Abbadi, Dhaher Damen, Awni Daoud, Fayez Abu Gaoud, Mwaffaq Kamal, Samar Haddadin, Ali Freihat, Hazem Khaldi and Walid Habahbeh — were elected as JPA council members. 

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani congratulated the new council members on their election, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a phone call with the JPA president on Saturday, the minister conveyed Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour’s best wishes to the council and commended the association’s active role in developing the profession to make the press a key partner in supporting the reform process.

The government, he said, appreciates the association’s monitoring role and is keen on maintaining a relationship with journalists that is built on mutual respect and partnership, Petra reported. 

Later on Saturday Ensour also called the JPA president and congratulated him and the syndicate’s council members on their election.

AMMAN — Libyan authorities on Saturday, denied news reports that Fawaz Aitan — the kidnapped Jordanian envoy to Libya — was freed, stressing that there are no Jordanian troops in Libya to help free him.

Said Lassoued, the Libyan foreign ministry spokesperson, also dismissed as “baseless” Friday’s news reports that Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan who is serving a life prison sentence in Jordan, was sent back to Tripoli as part of a deal with the kidnappers to free Aitan.

“We do not have any information confirming these reports,” Lassoued told The Jordan Times over the phone. The spokesperson did not comment on the negotiations taking place between his country’s government and the kidnappers.

Aitan was kidnapped in Tripoli on April 15, and no “official” information has been released yet confirming the identity of the kidnappers or their demands.

However, Essam Baitelmel, a member of the Libyan team investigating the abduction was quoted by news reports as saying that kidnappers had demanded the release of Dersi. 

Dersi was convicted in an attempt to bomb Queen Alia International Airport in 2004, according to reports.

The Jordanian government stressed on several occasions that it is “working tirelessly” to secure Aitan’s release.

Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not confirm or deny knowing the identity of the kidnappers or their demands, it stated that any news about the issue will be announced based on developments in the situation.

“Any information related to Aitan’s case will be announced according to developments, and in a way that will not affect the current communications related to the case,” Sabah Rafie, the ministry’s spokesperson, said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times.

Rafie declined to comment on a statement made by Musa Abdullat, lawyer of the hard-line Jihadi Salafist movement in Jordan, who claimed that Dersi was sent back to Libya as part of a deal to free Aitan.

AMMAN — Jordan and the Netherlands see eye-to-eye on many regional and international matters, chief of which is the resolution of crises and conflicts through international law and institutions, according to Dutch Ambassador to Amman Paul van den IJssel.

Amman and Amsterdam share “identical” views on many regional and international matters, he told journalists at a recent meeting held on the occasion of “King’s Day”.

Van den IJssel also described the nature of festivities the Dutch people are organising during first national holiday under a king in a very long time.

“It’s a very special King’s Day because it is the first since 1890. It is the first time the Dutch are ruled by a man,” he said.

The event is in honour of the Netherlands’ newly installed monarch, King Willem Alexander, who assumed the throne last year as the first male monarch from the Netherlands’ ruling House of Orange. 

Marked on April 27, King’s Day replaces the traditional “Queen’s Day”.

“We celebrate ourselves and the country. We celebrate our liberty, freedoms and popular monarchy. During such a national holiday, the whole country literary turns orange, as it is the national colour of our royal family,” the ambassador said.

Noting that strong ties link the Jordanian and Dutch royal families, Van den IJssel said His Majesty King Abdullah was the guest of King Willem-Alexander while he was in The Hague in March to participate in the third Nuclear Security Summit.

He explained that his country, like Jordan, sees in the two-state solution the best approach to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“Like Jordan, we support US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace initiative and we hope it will work out,” he said.

The ambassador added that his country is helping the Palestinians stimulate their economy. 

“We want to help the Palestinians export their products through Aqaba Port to the world.”

Turning to Syria, Van den IJssel said his country calls for finding a political solution to the ongoing crisis, expressing his country’s appreciation of the Kingdom’s humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees and its understanding of the accompanying burdens.

“We are fully aware of Jordan’s woes resulting from hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees. Last year, the Netherlands extended 70 million euros to Jordan to help alleviate its burdens brought on by the refugee crisis,” he said.

The ambassador also commended the status of human rights, gender equality and religious freedoms in Jordan.

He described Jordanian-Dutch economic relations as “excellent”, but said more can be done to further them.

Jordan’s imports from the Netherlands amounted to 300 million euros last year, while the Kingdom’s exports to totalled 60 million euros in 2013, according to the envoy. 

“That is not a bad indication, as the Dutch economy is bigger than that of Jordan.”

Van den IJssel said his country’s involvement in Jordan is best seen in Aqaba, noting that many Dutch engineering, construction and consultancy companies are operating the southern port city.

“Located within a turbulent region, we see Jordan as a safe place for investments and as a hub to other markets in the Middle East.”