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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah will start the second leg of his North American tour on Monday, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty on Saturday concluded a working visit to Mexico during which he met with President Enrique Peña Nieto and senior officials and private sector leaders.

King Abdullah will meet on Monday with representatives of US-based Arab and Muslim organisations in Washington, DC.

He is scheduled to meet with several senior US officials in Washington, concluding the visit with a summit meeting with US President Barack Obama in California on February 14.

In Mexico, the King held talks with President Nieto on Friday that focused on bilateral ties and means to develop them in all areas, particularly at the economic level.

Discussions, which took place at the presidential palace, covered political developments in the Middle East, especially efforts geared towards bringing about peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis according to the two-state solution.

They also reviewed the situation in Syria and its repercussions on the region, said the statement.

The two leaders underlined their commitment to fostering cooperation between the two countries during a lunch banquet held in honour of the King and the accompanying delegation.

The King pointed out that the Kingdom enjoys a distinguished strategic location, serving as a linking point between Asia, Europe and Africa, in addition to enjoying stability, having qualified workers and being signatory to international and regional free trade agreements.

Regarding the situation in the Middle East, talks focused on efforts to bring about peace in light of the ongoing negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

King Abdullah underlined Jordan’s support for the current US-brokered negotiations, which are being held according to the two-state solution and the international resolutions, particularly the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, arriving at the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In relation to developments in Syria, the Monarch reiterated the Kingdom’s stance in supporting efforts to reach a comprehensive political solution to the crisis that ends bloodshed, citing burdens Jordan is enduring due to hosting a large number of Syrian refugees.

For his part, the Mexican president underscored his country’s commitment to develop cooperation with Jordan in all areas, voicing his appreciation for the King’s role in working to realise regional stability.

He stressed Mexico’s willingness to coordinate with the Kingdom to enable it to overcome challenges.

In press statements, the Monarch thanked the Mexican president and government for the “warm” welcome and hospitality.

“This visit affirms our eagerness to build friendship, understanding and cooperation between our two countries and also presents an opportunity to mark four decades of diplomatic relations, strengthen political cooperation and enhance economic ties between Jordan and Mexico,” said the King.

He added that the visit came in time Mexico is “ascending on the global scene”, stressing Jordan’s keenness to reach out to Mexico as a global partner in economic, educational, cultural and technical fields.

“In this regard, expediting the establishment of a comprehensive bilateral framework will help take our relations forward,” the King said.

King Abdullah also expressed his confidence that the visit would bolster economic cooperation between the private sectors in both countries through the exchange of business missions, tourism, investments and trade.

He indicated that Jordan’s stability, geo-strategic location, competitive advantages and free trade agreements offer Mexico a strategic gateway to access MENA markets and projects.

At the political level, King Abdullah said the talks underscored the two countries’ agreement on the centrality of the Arab-Israeli peace process, where a lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the only way to achieving security and stability for all in the Middle East and beyond.

“I deeply appreciate Mexico as it stands with Jordan in its efforts to realise one of its highest priorities and interests to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution, and in accordance with UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative,” he indicated.

The Monarch added that the meeting with Nieto allowed the two parties to amplify the international call for a political solution on the Syrian crisis, the importance of dialogue based on the Geneva Communiqué, Geneva I and the ongoing Geneva II process.

For his part, the Mexican president highlighted that the King’s visit was the first after nearly 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Jordan and Mexico.

He cited agreements signed between the two countries during the visit and their importance in fostering cooperation in the areas of education and culture, technical support and tourism.

The agreement on educational and cultural cooperation aims at increasing and supporting cooperation within the fields of education, arts, culture and sports by conducting activities that will contribute to a better understanding between the two countries.

The basic agreement on technical cooperation seeks to develop, promote and facilitate bilateral cooperation through designing and developing programmes and projects in the fields of tourism, agriculture, environment, health and energy.

In addition, the two countries signed memorandums of understanding on tourism, social security and health cooperation.

They also signed terms of reference for the negotiations of a free trade agreement between Mexico and Jordan, according to the statement.

AMMAN — The Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) on Saturday said it is developing a scheme to deal with weapons of mass destruction, especially chemical weapons.

Col. Mohammad Mawajdeh, the director of JAF’s crisis management division, did not elaborate on plans, but said that the army has conducted drills and workshops on dealing with such weapons in the northern and southern regions of the Kingdom.

Plans are under way to conduct similar activities in the central region, Mawajdeh said at the opening of a three-day workshop on “Crisis Management” on Saturday, with military and civil participants from various institutions.

Participants at the event, organised by the Ministry of Interior in cooperation with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), are expected to come up with recommendations that will guide the overall national plans to respond to any crisis in the country.

On the first day, participants at the workshop discussed the methods followed by military and security entities to manage crises, including natural and human-made disasters.

“The workshop seeks to inform and define the authorities responsible for the safety of citizens, and the role of these authorities in case of emergencies and crises,” Carlos Batallas, the ICRC’s deputy head of delegation in Jordan, said.

Education Minister and acting Interior Minister Mohammad Thneibat noted that “handling disasters is one of the vital areas” in public administration.

The Kingdom received 17 waves of migrations over the past few decades, Thneibat said, indicating that the country is still suffering from such circumstances and needs help in order to meet its obligations towards refugees.

Since 1936, Jordan has received refugees from Palestine, Lebanon Iraq, and Syria according to Thneibat.

Participants will discuss the refugee crisis in detail on Sunday, in addition to the roles of other security and civil institutions in handling any crisis situation.

Mawajdeh said the army receives Syrian refugees at what he described as “reception points”, which are under the full jurisdiction of the military.

Then, he said, the military coordinates its efforts with NGOs at the “gathering points” to provide the refugees with the needed help.

The last step is to escort the refugees to the camps where they deal with NGOs and civil organisations without any military interference, he noted.

AMMAN — Jordan is one of only two states in the region where the telecom sector is fully liberalised, according to a World Bank report, which said mobile broadband penetration in the Kingdom is high and prices are low.

The report, e-mailed to The Jordan Times, showed that the country’s fixed and mobile broadband have reached a developing stage, compared to an emerging state in Algeria, Egypt and Morocco, and a mature stage in Bahrain.

Jordan — as well as Qatar and Saudi Arabia — were classified among the countries with high mobile broadband penetration and low prices, said the report titled “Broadband Networks in the Middle East and North Africa: Accelerating High-Speed Internet Access”.

Kuwait, the UAE and Egypt were classified as countries with high penetration and high prices.

“Prices of mobile broadband in Jordan are one of the lowest in the region due to the strong competition between existing operators,” Jawad Abbassi, founder and general manager of the Arab Advisers Group, said.

“Usage of mobile broadband in Jordan is much higher than fixed broadband because mobile broadband is more personal and users have access to the Internet wherever they are, as they either have an Internet subscription on their mobile or simply carry an Internet dongle,” Abbassi told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, only Bahrain and Jordan have implemented a policy of full liberalisation in telecommunications. All other countries have a limit on the number of licensed operators which increased competition in the market, the report said.

Fixed broadband prices constitute about 3.6 per cent of the average monthly income per capita in the MENA region, while mobile broadband prices stand at about 7.7 per cent, according to the report. It also indicated that while Djibouti, Syria and Yemen are significantly above the 5 per cent threshold; Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia have just reached the level that makes rapid broadband take-off possible.

Of the 147 per cent mobile subscriptions in Jordan, about 35.9 per cent are mobile broadband users, while in Kuwait around 32.4 per cent of the total mobile subscriptions of about 209 per cent are mobile broadband users, the World Bank report said.

In Saudi Arabia, where mobile penetration stands at 203 per cent, 27.5 per cent of mobile holders are mobile broadband subscribers.

In terms of fixed broadband, 25.4 per cent of households in Jordan have fixed broadband connections compared to 88 per cent in Bahrain, 69 per cent in the UAE, 66 per cent in Qatar, 51.7 per cent in Saudi Arabia, 32 per cent in Kuwait and 14 per cent in Egypt.

The low penetration growth of fixed broadband in the Kingdom could be explained by a strong fixed-to-mobile substitution effect.

“After the launch of commercial 3G services in Jordan in September 2010, the annual growth of fixed broadband penetration dropped to –0.5 per cent and between 2011 and 2013 was only 2.5 percent,” the report said.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Health has raised alert levels across the Kingdom following the death of two Jordanians infected with MERS coronavirus and H1N1, a ministry official said on Saturday.

Bassam Hijjawi, head of the ministry’s primary healthcare directorate, said the coronavirus-related death is the third in the country, as two cases were registered in 2012.

“The case is of a man who already had leukaemia, and he died at the King Hussein Cancer Centre,” Hijjawi told The Jordan Times over the phone, adding that currently, there are no other patients diagnosed with the disease in the country’s hospitals, but “we will stay alert”.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that may cause a range of illnesses in humans, from the common cold to SARS. Viruses of this family also cause a number of animal diseases, according to the World Health Organisation.

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) strain has not been previously identified in humans; there is very limited information on transmission, severity and clinical impact, with only a small number of cases reported thus far.

The H1N1-related death, Hijjawi said, involved a man who had heart disease, and his immune system was weak.

The official explained that the ministry conducted tests on those who dealt with the two patients and all results were negative.

Since the beginning of winter, 25 Jordanians have been diagnosed with H1N1 and recovered after receiving the needed medication, he added.

“We call on those who have the symptoms of any of these diseases to go immediately to hospital, especially if they have other chronic diseases,” Hijjawi said.

Most people who contracted MERS-CoV developed severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath according to the US Centres for Disease Control website.

Saudi Arabia is by far the worst affected country by MERS, accounting for 59 deaths out of 180 confirmed cases, Agence France-Press reported on Saturday, adding that the virus has also struck in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Experts are struggling to understand MERS, for which there is no vaccine, the news agency added.

“It is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, 9 per cent of whom died.”

Last August, researchers pointed to Arabian camels as possible hosts of the virus, according to AFP.

It added that cases have also been reported in Europe, in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, mainly in people who had visited the Middle East.

AMMAN — Authorities have discovered two violations on a water main in Jiza in south Amman, an official at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said on Saturday.

The 800-millimetre pipe conveys water from the Swaqa station, 70 kilometres south of Amman, to a water station in the Amman National Park, off the airport road, added the official, who preferred to remain unnamed.

The first violation entailed the installation of a pipe that was diverting water to a group of farms located west of the Amman-Aqaba road, while the second illegal pipe was transferring water to a nearby pool with a capacity of thousands of cubic metres, according to the official.

The pool was equipped with huge pumps powered through illegal connections with electricity poles that pumped water to surrounding farms, the official noted.

“The violators were stealing more than 4,000 cubic metres of water per day. These illegal pipes are one of the reasons behind the water shortage in Amman,” the official told The Jordan Times.

A joint team from the Water Ministry, the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna), the Gendarmerie, the Royal Badia Forces and the Public Security Department inspected the site, according to the official.

“We are taking legal procedures against the offenders by referring the cases to the public prosecutor,” the official said.

Last week, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said the government is committed to putting an end to all water violations, describing water theft as a form of corruption.

To this end, the government has drafted new amendments to the Water Authority of Jordan Law, Ensour told MPs last during a Lower House session last Wednesday.

Deputies referred the amended draft to the Agriculture and Water Committee, giving it “urgency status”, and expressed their desire to play a part in protecting the country’s water resources.

Since the ministry launched a crackdown on water violations in August last year, and up until December, more than 7,091 illegal water pipes were dismantled, of which 75.5 per cent were in the capital, according to the ministry’s figures.

The ministry registered 1,919 violations on main water conveyors and 3,360 cases of changing water gauges in Amman alone between August and December last year.

The ministry said it is pressing ahead with its campaign to crack down on violators of the water network, calling on the public to cooperate with authorities and report violations.

AMMAN — Sunday marks the 37th anniversary of the death of Her Majesty Queen Alia, who passed away on February 9, 1977.

The late queen, who was born in Cairo in December 1948, died in a helicopter crash while returning from an inspection trip to Tafileh Hospital in southern Jordan.

Queen Alia, born Alia Baha Uddin Toukan, married His Majesty King Hussein in 1971.

They had two children: Their Royal Highnesses Princess Haya and Prince Ali. In 1972, they adopted Abeer Moheisen.

Active in charity and social work, Queen Alia represented Jordanian women at many international conferences, serving as a model for Arab women in supporting their causes and their participation in socio-economic development.

In commemoration of Queen Alia, Princess Haya, wife of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, set up Tkiyet Um Ali, which provides assistance to underprivileged families.

Launched in 2006, the project was originally an idea introduced by the late queen who wanted to help underprivileged families.

The term “tkiyet” dates back to the Ottoman days, when prominent families opened facilities on their estates to offer food to the poor and homeless.