Jordan's World Cup dream alive as win sets up Uzbekistan playoff

June 19, 2013

(Reuters) – Jordan’s hopes of a first World Cup finals appearance remain alive after they beat Oman 1-0 at home on Tuesday to book a qualifying playoff against Uzbekistan in September.

Striker Ahmad Ibrahim scored the winning goal in the 57th minute, stooping low to head home a cross from Khalil Bani Ateyah that drew wild celebrations at the King Abdullah Stadium in Amman.

The victory, in the last of the Asian group stage matches, meant Jordan leapfrogged Oman into third place in Group B on 10 points, one ahead of Paul Le Guen’s side.

Jordan will now take on Uzbekistan, who finished third in Group A, with the first leg to be played on September 6 and the second on September 10.

The winners advance to play another two-leg playoff against the fifth-placed South American side in November for a place at the finals.

Few predicted Jordan would still be in contention after they were hammered 6-0 away to Japan in their second group match last year, but they defied their FIFA ranking of 75th with strong performances at home.

Having dispatched Australia and Japan in Amman, Jordan knew another three points were required against Oman to claim the playoff berth but they started Tuesday’s match in scratchy fashion.

With Jordan guilty of defensive lapses, Oman failed to take advantage wasting numerous chances to score in an open first half.

Oman forward Abdulaziz Al Muqbali ran wide instead of shooting when clear on goal in the sixth minute, while Qasim Hardan saw his far post shot blocked by Jordanian goalkeeper Amer Sabbah.

Jordan’s Mohammad Aldmeiri came close to snatching the lead for the home side in the 29th minute, but his flicked header from a quickly taken corner flashed just over the crossbar.

Further chances came and went for Oman before halftime with the Jordanians taking a grip of the match in the second period before Ibrahim’s goal.

Oman’s desperation for an equalizer led to some sloppy approach play with Sabbah making routine saves in the final stages as Jordan hung on for another famous home win.

(Reporting by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by Mark Pangallo)

Source: The Star.
Link: http://football.thestar.com.my/2013/06/19/jordans-world-cup-dream-alive-as-win-sets-up-uzbekistan-playoff/.

Two ministers relinquish foreign citizenship

Oct 04, 2011

AMMAN (JT) - Two Cabinet members applied to relinquish their non-Jordanian nationalities at the concerned embassies, a government official said.

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Abdullah Abu Rumman said the step taken by Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar and Minister of Culture Jeryes Samawi on Monday “was made to abide by the [new] Constitution, which prohibits Jordanians who have another nationality from holding ministerial posts”, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Under the amendments made to Article 75 of the Constitution, which went into effect Saturday, “no person can become a deputy, senator, minister or a high-ranking official if he/she holds dual nationality”.

In a press conference yesterday, Abu Rumman said Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit has informed all ministers who hold dual nationalities to rectify their statuses according to the Constitution, Petra reported.

Senator Talal Abu Ghazaleh was the first to resign his seat as he holds Bahraini citizenship, along with his Jordanian nationality.

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/two-ministers-relinquish-foreign-citizenship.

Islamists and the Jordanian King at Loggerheads Over Elections

by Adam Nicky
Sunday, January 20, 2013

Muslim Brotherhood set to boycott parliamentary elections

With just three days left ahead of Jordanian parliamentary elections, King Abdullah and representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party the Islamic Action Front (IAC), who are boycotting the election, are on a collision course ahead of the vote.

After failing to attract the Islamist movement to run in the polls, which he promotes as fruit of the Arab Spring, King Abdullah this week appeared to have given up on the IAC. The pro-Western monarch accused them of seeking to establish a "religious dictatorship" and said he didn't trust the Islamists.

"I am not worried about the Islamists winning in the elections. I am worried about pluralism and an exchange of power" that might result from such a victory, Abdullah said in a January 13 interview with the French magazine L'Observoire. He also expressed concern about how much change such a victory would bring to the country.

Meanwhile, the state-controlled media has been leading a smear campaign against the Islamist movement ahead of the polls.

Jordanian officials point out that the January 23 elections will lead to the creation of the country's first parliamentary government. The king would name a prime minister to form a government that includes members of parliament, and retain the right to name and dismiss the prime minister.

Jordan elects its parliament every four years to choose 150 MPs in the lower house, while the king appoints the upper house with 50 senators forming the legislative authority. It remains unclear how many MPs would join the new government, but lists of candidates show former officials and businessmen leading the race in the absence of powerful opposition.

Wary of the possible negative effects of an Arab Spring in Jordan, Abdullah's spokesmen argue that gradual reforms are safer in a country surrounded by major powers struggling for Mideast interests.

"The region is facing an uncertain future. We don't know where Syria is heading and countries that saw change in the Arab Spring are suffering," a senior government official told the Media Line.

"The king is determined to go ahead with his vision of reform. He has said that his son will not inherit the monarchy as he did," the official added, referring to opposition demands that the king relinquish his constitutional powers that allow him to form governments.

Over the past two years, Abdullah endorsed amendments to the constitution, including that the king can sack the parliament only once in four years and the government must resign after parliamentary elections, and he established an independent electoral committee that promised fair and free elections.

The opposition accuses the king of procrastinating and exploiting the Syrian storm to block fundamental change.

It wants quick reforms including trimming the king's powers, separation between authorities to shield judicial authority and the parliament from government interference, and a fair elections law.

"The so-called concessions, including the constitutional court, etc….[are] like a camel that gave birth to a mouse. We expected too much and got so little," Kathem Ayash, a member of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council, the highest governing body of the group, told The Media Line.

"This is an arrogant attitude. The state says we give you this little and we have to be happy for it. We will not take part in this political process," he added.

The Islamist movement said this week it plans to organize a major rally in downtown Amman against the elections, but vowed not to hold protests on election day, a sign it might not be acting as strongly as expected.

The highly publicized polls are expected to do little to defuse tension between maneuvering authorities and stubborn opposition, said political analyst and researcher Mohammed Imran.

"Jordan will remain in the same place as two years ago, when the Arab Spring started. The kingdom is headed to the unknown in such a situation," argues Imran.

Islamist movement opponents say the group’s bark is bigger than its bite, accusing Shura Council President Abdul Latif Arabiyat, IAF party leader Hamza Mansour and other senior Islamists of failing to live up to their status as the biggest opposition party in the kingdom.

"Street protestations look more like a formality than a genuine expression of anger by the public. The Islamist movement has been treading so carefully that they are becoming powerless," said Rami Rafeeq, a leader from the Jordan professional association.

Other opposition groups including some leftist parties have insignificant support.

Besides the planned election boycott, the Muslim Brotherhood has been enduring its own internal strife. Some party leaders say it supports peacefully achieving political rights and recently some said they are not seeking to overthrow the regime.

A melting pot for immigrants from around the region, Jordan has survived the bloody ripples of the Arab Spring that have occurred in other Arab countries.

King Abdullah takes his authority and powers from a general belief among the seven million inhabitants that the royal family is the safest option for a country built by refugees from what is today Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Armenia, Chechnya and elsewhere seeking safety.

However, young opposition activists from Jordan University's student council say they want better than their parents had, insisting the king must face the inevitable and change.

Copyright © 2013 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.

Jordan Prince Scorned For Participating In Jewish Event

by Adam Nicky
Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Anti-normalization groups up in arms over British fundraiser

AMMAN: Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan found himself in hot water this week after his participation in a Jewish charity event in the UK last month was exposed in local media.

Hassan, the uncle of King Abdullah II, was in headlines for the wrong reasons after he addressed a fundraising event on November 21 for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which Israeli figures also attended. The prince was pictured alongside the organization's president, Vivian Wineman, and treasurer, Laurence Brass.

In a country where anti-Israeli sentiment runs high and most of the 7.5 million citizens are Palestinians, the move was viewed as a flagrant disregard for public sensitivities. What added insult to injury is the fact that the event was held less than a week after the end of hostilities between Israeli and Hamas in the Gaza Strip which claimed civilian lives on both sides.

In his speech, Hassan insisted that the Jordanian monarchy will remain in power despite the recent large demonstrations against recent price hikes that have rocked the nation.

“We are not in it for prestige,” Prince Hassan told the British guests. “I genuinely feel we are there for the sake of human dignity.”

King Abdullah was originally scheduled to attend the event, but cancelled without giving a reason.

Anti-Israel activists have called on the royal family to distance itself from the prince's action. The National Anti-Normalization Committee, which lobbies against normal relations with Israel, blasted Hassan.

"We condemn Prince Hassan’s participation as it represents free service to the Zionist enemy and harms national causes as well as the prince himself and the royal family," read the organization’s statement.

"This is a provocation of the feelings of all Jordanians," added the statement, which was overlooked by most pro-government media.

It is rare for the organization to criticize a member of the royal family.

At least one editor at a major Arabic-language daily confirmed to The Media Line that it received instructions from security authorities to ignore the statement about the prince due to what he said was "sensitive times."

Activist Dr. Anis Khasawneh vilified the prince and called for an apology.

"What I find astonishing is that the prince challenges the feelings of Jordanians by collecting donations for Israel. Why does he act in such an arrogant manner?" he asked.

Khasawneh said Hassan was poised to become leader of Jordan in the past and ended up helping the enemies of the entire Arab nation.

Government sources played down the significance of Hassan’s involvement in the event and tried to defend the prince’s action, insisting that his participation was designed to lobby for the resumption of peace talks and put pressure on Israel to commit to its political obligation, as part of a dialogue between religions.

The official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the prince left the meeting before Israeli officials took to the podium to address the audience, and had only "scorning words for Israel’s actions in the peace process."

Although Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, dealing with Israeli officials remains a social and political taboo, with several lobby groups campaigning against improving ties between the two countries.

At least two major labor organizations also object to normalization with Israel. Opposition parties, including the Islamist movement, draw support from Jordanians who are against the peace treaty with Israel.

Hamzah Mansour, president of the National Anti-Normalization Committee and secretary general of the Islamic Action Front, expressed his disappointment over the prince’s actions.

"I urge all Jordanians - the honorable ones - to end dealing with this enemy. The Israelis have no interest in talking. They only understand the language of the sword," he said in response to diplomatic ties between Jordan and Israel.

"We must scrap the peace treaty because Israel has no interest in making peace," he told The Media Line.

Meanwhile, the National Anti-Normalization Committee has accused brokers of doing business with Israeli firms that buy Jordanian products and sell them under Israeli labels. Figures from the Jordanian Department of Statistics show that exports to Israel during the first eight months of 2012 stood at some $48 million, a drop from $54 million in 2011. Imports increased from $65 million to $69 million during the same period.

In Amman’s bustling central fruit and vegetable market, farmers and brokers had mixed views about dealing with Israel. Some said they would rather throw their produce into the garbage than sell it to Israelis. Others believe they have no choice due to limited markets.

Abu Emad, a 56-year-old broker, said he sells to whoever pays the most in his auction.

"The government did not find us new markets. The Syrian crisis was a disaster for us. Now we have to sell to anyone," he said, before starting an auction of newly-arrived olives.

"The prince did what he had to do. He’s a politician and Jordan cannot survive if officials do not talk to all kinds of people, including Jews," he concluded.

Copyright © 2012 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.

Brokering Votes becomes Rampant in Lead-up to Jordan's Elections

by Adam Nicky
Tuesday, October 23, 2012

[AMMAN]  Subhi Khatib is not an activist, nor does he have a political preference. But the 45-year old Palestinian refugee nevertheless works around the clock during Jordan’s election period, brokering votes for candidates.

Khatib’s job is to locate voters from some of the 13 Palestinian refugee camps spread throughout the kingdom and sell their votes to office-seekers running in large cities.

Jordanian law allows votes to be transferred from one location to another under strict conditions, but vote-brokering is prohibited and punishable by up to two years in prison. Nevertheless, no one has ever been convicted of the practice since the law was passed and circumventing the permitted procedures is not at all uncommon.

Khatib explained that his clients are typically businessmen or individuals from the security apparatus linked to authorities who are seeking to support their favored candidates or oust those candidates’ unwanted opponents in some hotly contested districts.

"Palestinian refugee camps are seen as gold mines for votes. There are tens of thousands of votes up for grab,” said Khatib, as he sifted through a list of telephone contacts. “There are middlemen in various camps who can bring me votes whenever I need them. Some of them do not even buy the votes, but herd relatives to me – most of whom are women who are poor and uneducated,” he told The Media Line.

Jordan is scheduled to hold elections for parliament on January 23, under an amended law. The revised legislation empowers tribes loyal to the royal family and affords only minimal representation to Jordanians of Palestinian origin who have full Jordanian citizenship.

In the squalid Baqaa refugee camp, home to nearly 300,000 refugees, residents show little interest in reform protests that swept through the main cities across Jordan. Residents of refugee camps opted to maintain a low profile ever since the “Arab Spring” reached Jordan, as leaders of the Palestinian community worry their camps are not politically protected.

"We have no role in this political drama. We worry about a tough response by the security forces if we take to the streets to demand reforms,” said Helmi Samer, a camp activist who has been lobbying for an elections boycott.

"We are considered Jordanians only on election day. For rest of the year, we are treated like [the] Palestinian refugees [we are] who have no political rights,” he says, noting that Palestinian camps housing nearly one million residents are represented by only four  seats in the parliament, while a small town like Ma’an, with a population of merely 50,000 people, has five representatives in the 122-seat parliament.

Since the 1971 civil war in between Palestinian factions and the Jordanian army, authorities in Amman have systematically denied major government positions to Jordanians of Palestinian origin and have restricted the “east-bankers” from enlistment in the army and police.

Samer believes the Palestinians continue to pay the price for the civil war, even until now.

“There is a wide sense of political apathy in the refugee camps,” said Samer. “People do not care about the parliament, which has been lackluster in performance and did little to help them improve their living conditions,” he said.

Former parliamentarian Mohammad Dahrawee lashed out at the government for approving the elections law, which he says grossly under-represents Jordanian Palestinians.

“The Palestinian camps are being politically marginalized. They have the right to be part of the political picture -- not observers and voters,” he said. “Justice means that the electoral system is based on population density, not on geography. The elections law reaffirms that there are two levels of citizens and our ambition to reach justice is hampered by this law that needs reform,” he told The Media Line.

Elections are boycotted by most opposition parties, including the Islamist movement and a national coalition of opposition parties, an umbrella of seven leftist parties. In the battle with the Islamist movement following opposition’s decision to boycott the elections, authorities have been reportedly utilizing connections to Fatah and other Palestinian factions to secure higher voter turn-outs.

Several Palestinian leaders from outside of Jordan, including Rajab Kadoumi, a senior Fatah leader, have held meetings in Baqaa refugee camps urging community leaders take part in the voting.

Other Fatah figures held similar meetings in the Wehdat camp near Amman, the Zarqa camp and other areas with high concentrations of Palestinian refugees.

Researcher Kamal Hudeib said refugee camps are looked at as major vote-troves for influential candidates from outside the camps, including government-linked candidates, businessmen and political parties.

“Refugee camps have become a market for [the sale of] votes,” according to Hudeib. He told The Media Line that, “Several candidates have been trying to transfer voters from the camps to their districts.”

For most of the year, vote-facilitator Khatib is jobless. He spends his time in coffee shops, sports clubs and at social gatherings in order to meet people and expand his network of potential voters. Then, when election fever hits the kingdom, Khatib becomes as busy as a bee, moving from one camp to another, meeting with scores of candidates while trying to cash-in on what he sees as a spending-bonanza by candidates.

"All eyes are now on refugee camps -- not to help improve conditions, but to obtain the votes of their residents," said Khatib.

Copyright © 2012 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.

Medical Experiments in Jordan

by Adam Nicky
Thursday, November 01, 2012

Illegitimate Children in Jordan Become Lab Rats for Pharmaceutical Companies

AMMAN - Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour made a bizarre official visit to a drugs testing laboratory within days of being appointed by King Abdullah II to lead the country through economic and political turmoil.

The liberal Ensour’s top priority is to steer the country through tricky parliament elections and tackle its economic plight.

While visiting the private hospital of al Hanan, where drug tests are conducted on illegitimate children, the premier said he wanted to make sure that testing on humans was in line with the regulations, after questions were raised over research centers’ and pharmaceutical companies’ practices.

According to Ahmed Ayasra, one of the drug-testing volunteers, the impact on health could appear in months or years to come, when it is too late to claim for compensation or even seek treatment.

The dark-skinned 24-year-old looked haggard, with sunken eyes as he spoke about his experience with the drug testing. He signed a contract worth 300 Jordanian dinars, under which he would stay a few days in a private hospital to test drugs varying from pain killers to lotions and Viagra-like drugs.

Ayasra grew up in a government care center, along with dozens of other children abandoned by their parents. He is believed to have been born as a result of an illegitimate relationship.

"I suffered from headaches and lack of sleep when they gave medication they said was a pain killer, but I’m already feeling pain in my bones and don’t feel well in general," he told The Media Line.

Human rights activists and some of the testing subjects told The Media Line that the premier's visit opened the public’s eyes to illegal and immoral practices by pharmaceutical companies and research centers.

Ayasra said he filed a lawsuit against the research center, but was forced to drop charges after threats by police.

"Targeting a certain group of people with limited financial income is a gross violation of human rights and should be banned,” said human rights activist Abdullah Khatib.

"While these men are over 18, they have limited, if any option but to accept being tested on. They have no food to eat, no training or proper education. This is what is illegal and immoral about this practice," said Khatib, who is also a private physician.

Officials from the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) said they license such tests for local companies, but only according to specific rules. The testing is conducted on behalf of international and local pharmaceutical companies.

JFDA Director General Hayel Obeidat said the government is following up on these companies’ activities and they are working within legal boundaries.

"The laboratories and hospitals are working according to international laws. We regularly monitor their activities," he said.

However, he declined to say if the government has taken action against any research company, or if there have been violations in the past.

A spokesman for graduates of social care centers, Ala Teibi, accused pharmaceutical companies and research centers of targeting this group to avoid legal repercussions.

"The difficult economic situation among this group due to high unemployment pushes them into the arms of research centers," he told The Media Line.

A source in a large Jordanian pharmaceutical company said the firm is trying to reproduce drugs made by international companies to sell under new brand names. He said Jordanian pharmaceutical companies are among the leading firms in the region in rebranding, but they need to test the drugs before producing them industrially.

"Jordan has a reputation of advanced pharmaceutical companies, therefore any medicine must be tested well before being exported or put on the local market," said the source.

He noted that the government, including the Health Ministry, encourage the practice but try to impose strict conditions on testing.

Jordan’s Health Minister Abdul Latif Wreikat said such experiments are common in every country worldwide. He pointed out that the companies follow the Declaration of Helsinki - Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. The declaration makes it a physician’s duty to promote and safeguard the health of patients, including those involved in medical research.

"Each subject receives life insurance while being tested, as well as guarantees of treatment for any side-effects that could incur as a result of the drug, and this is what is being done in Jordan," the minister told The Media Line.

Experts say the duration of testing contracts is limited. When an experiment is completed, some of these young men spend months reeling from the effects of the drugs, while the companies involved decline to provide treatment.

For Ayasra, the future remains clouded in uncertainty as he continues to suffer new symptoms. But he is clear about one thing: "I will never accept being treated as a lab rat. I would work day and night instead. I only hope the testing will not have a detrimental impact on my health," he concluded.

Copyright © 2012 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.

Jordan and Canada Launch Free Trade Agreement

by Adam Nicky
Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Jordanian Businesses Divided over Potential Impact

AMMAN – Mohammed Abu Hassan owns a small shoe factory in the Sahab Industrial Zone on the eastern edge of Jordan’s capital, Amman. He is struggling to keep his factory open and he is worried that the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) could put him out of business.

"We are already losing our traditional local market and we worry that this agreement will be the beginning of the end, unless the government takes measures to protect local industries," he told The Media Line.

While the FTA allows Jordan to export goods tax-free to Canada, it also allows Canadian firms to export to Jordan, increasing competition. The economy of Canada, with more than 34 million people, dwarfs that of Jordan’s population of six million.

Jordan imports more than it exports. In 2010, according to government statistics, it imported almost $15 billion worth of goods, and exported just $5.8 billion worldwide. When it comes to Canada, in 2012, Jordan exported $10 million dollars worth of good and imported $54 million.

Jordanian officials say the FTA offers new opportunities for Jordanian businesses seeking to explore North American markets or to partner with Canadian companies who want to enter the oil-rich Gulf States.

"The agreement gives Jordanian industries an opportunity to expand, but they must step up their level and find a place in the cutthroat market," Hatem Halawani, the head of Jordan’s Chamber of Commerce, told The Media Line.

He said that textiles, chemicals, jewelry and limestone are poised to compete in the Canadian market. He dismissed concerns that the agreement could negatively affect local businesses like Abu Hassan’s shoe factory, with the country being swamped with cheaper or better products from larger industrialized nations.

But businessmen in Jordan are concerned that small firms could even go out of business.

“Local products face a daunting task to compete with products from industrialist nations" said Mohammad Abu Fares, owner of a Jordanian petrochemical factory. “We had hailed a similar agreement with the European Union a few years ago, but we ended up importing European products and we were not able to export to the EU because of their strict rules," he told The Media Line.

Jordan enjoys a similar FTA with the US, Turkey and Pakistan. Textile and pharmaceutical companies say they have already benefited.

Jordan’s Minister of Trade Shabeeb Amari hailed the agreement as a landmark, saying it would inject life into the country's anemic economy. Tourism, which had previously been an important component, is struggling because of the Arab Spring. Although Jordan has been relatively quiet, many tourists are staying away from the Middle East entirely.

"The [Canadian] agreement will herald a new era of cooperation and allow more investment between the two countries,” he told The Media Line. “It will provide protection to products from both sides and increase investment in various fields.”

The head of the Jordanian-Canadian Businessman’s Association, Nabeel Khouri, who is also the head of the Arab Petrochemical Company, said the agreement will open up new markets for Jordanian products. He said the total trade volume of $89 million annually will improve and predicted that the FTA will mean more cash pouring into the Jordanian economy as Arab investors seek to reach the Canadian market via Amman.

Canadian officials said the agreement will provide Canada with a gateway to the Middle East.

“Jordan is the best opportunity for Canada to establish a hub or a gateway into the Middle East,” Canadian Minister of International Trade Ed Fast said during a news conference in Amman to mark the launch of the FTA. “What set Jordan apart from other countries is that it is moderate and stable. Canada appreciates that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jordanian officials said they are working to upgrade the competitiveness of Jordanian manufacturers.

"The FTA will be the catalyst for our project to improve the level of Jordanian products through providing companies with the needed expertise to upgrade their quality in line with international standards," Nayef Esteiteh, head of the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation, told The Media Line. "We brought in a Canadian expert who is working with three factories in the food processing sector to help them set up strategies to conquer the Canadian market and link up with Canadian partners."

Copyright © 2012 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.