My uncle
My uncle passed away yesterday from liver failure. It was a sad day. May his good soul rest in peace. He will be missed.
Zarqawi’s family in Jordan disowns him
The family and tribe of al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, disowned him Sunday in a large newspaper advertisement. Local Jordanian newspapers published a large advertised statement addressed to King Abdullah II and signed by 76 members of the Khalayleh family of the prominent Bani Hassan clan, from which Zarqawi hails. The statement, which included the signature of Zarqawi’s brother, Sayel Fadeel Nazzal Khalayleh, and his cousins, pledged allegiance to the Jordanian monarch and denounced "all terrorist acts claimed by Ahmad Fadeel Khalayleh," Zarqawi’s real name.
It added the Khalayleh family renounces him, his acts and statements, insisting that "anyone who dares to carry out such acts against our Jordan has no links to Jordan and did not drink from its water; therefore, we disown him until the day of judgment."
Source: [UPI]
Has anyone seen this? I hope this will make some Zarqa residents that told the press on a number of occasions "We are proud of him," think twice before they give such embarrassing statements.
UPDATE: Here is the AP story via The Jordan Times
Zarqawi’s desperation
Zarqawi’s latest speech — in which he threatened to kill His Majesty King Abdallah — is a desperate attempt by a low-life thug who has realized his battle to win the hearts and minds of Arab youth is miserably failing!
I think the reason he has made these threats is simply because he was taken aback by the reaction of the Jordanian people, who took to the streets condemning the attacks and shouting loud and clear "Zarqawi, burn in hell". It is also worth noting that Zarqawi did not expect Jordanians to fully unite behind His Majesty following the attacks. With this statement Zarqawi has clearly revealed his sense of desperation. What a pathetic loser! Here is an article about this latest audiotape. Also here is Aljazeera’s article in Arabic.
UPDATE: Jordanian blogger Oleander has a good post about Al-Qaeda desperation.
Jordan scroes 4.45/10 in Economist political freedom index
According to the Economist magazine, Jordan ranks 8 out of 20 in predictions of where and how democracy will spread in the Middle East and Africa next year. Jordan scored 4.45 out of 10. I wonder if the Economist took into consideration Jordan’s upcoming national agenda when it arrived at that score. I think, for Jordan, this is not that bad. I mean, let’s look at the bright side, there are only six Arab countries in front of us. Here is one quote of interest:
And the Americans will promote a trio of more or less benevolent monarchies — Morocco, Jordan and Bahrain — as exemplars of their democracy campaign.
Source: [Mail and Guardian online]
According to AFP, the Ecomonist’s "Index of Political Freedom" ranked 20 countries on 15 indicators of political and civil liberties for its annual preview of the year ahead. Here is the full list:
1) Israel: 8.20 2) Lebanon: 6.55 3) Morocco: 5.20 4) Iraq: 5.05 4) Palestine: 5.05
6) Kuwait: 4.90 7) Tunisia: 4.60 8) Jordan: 4.45 8) Qatar: 4.45 10) Egypt: 4.30
10) Sudan: 4.30 10) Yemen: 4.30 13) Algeria: 4.15 14) Oman: 4.00
15) Bahrain: 3.85 15) Iran: 3.85 17) UAE: 3.70 18) Saudi Arabia: 2.80 18) Syria: 2.80 20) Libya: 2.05
UPDATE: Here is the Lebanese perspective from Beirut Beltway.
The Iraqi massacre and the Jordanian reaction
Over 60 Iraqis were butchered today. This horrible attack is the latest in a series of massacres committed by, you guessed it: the insurgents in Iraq. After reading this, the first thought that came to mind was how will Jordanians react to this now.
It is no secret that a number of Jordanians cheered the evil doings of the insurgents, seeing it as a form of "legitimate resistance." Now that Jordan has been hit by what seems to be Iraqi insurgents from Falluja, will Jordanians — including the Jordanian media — publicly denounce the doings of the "resistance" and support ongoing efforts to stabilize Iraq.
Will the Jordanian public and media now support the democratic steps taking place in Iraq, including elections? Do Jordanians realize now that stability in Iraq means stability at home? Let’s wait and see.