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All done.shyamd wrote: Would it be possible to move the posts in the previous thread here?
I've said this before, but Yemen is a lot like Pakistan, or lets say Pashtunistan.shyamd wrote:Johann, US is mainly providing support hoping that the SF will target AQAP. But the thing is, these extremists are there under the invitiation of the president himself, and are being used against the houthi's. There are US, French, jordanian advisers in Riyadh helping with planning etc. So, the US is not directly involved, but they are providing intelligence support. The US is also being pushed to help Yemen by Riyadh, but initially US wasn't committing itself, but now looks like they are part of the coalition against the Houthi's. Iranian media was reporting that US special forces and US planes have been on bombing runs in Saada (no confirmation from any of my sources).
Six Egyptian Copts killed in Christmas Eve attack
(AFP) – 20 hours ago
CAIRO — Attackers in a car raked a crowd of shoppers in a south Egypt town with gunfire, killing a policemen and six Coptic Christians on the eve of their Christmas celebrations, a security official said on Thursday.
The drive-by shooting took place late Wednesday in the southern Egyptian town of Nagaa Hammadi as Copts were preparing for Christmas which they celebrate January 7 along with other Orthodox communities, the official said. ……………………
Witnesses, cited by local officials, said the main gunman, a Muslim, is wanted by police and linked the incident to the abduction of a 12-year-old Muslim girl in November who was allegedly raped by a Coptic youth.
"The first elements of the investigation, based on testimony of people on the ground, indicate that the main shooter is a town resident identified as Mohammed Ahmed Hussein, who is wanted by the police," one official said. …………………
Google via AFP
British woman 'arrested in Dubai after being raped'
A 23-year-old British woman on holiday in Dubai told police she had been raped, only to be arrested herself for having illegal sexual intercourse.
By Chris Irvine
Published: 7:30AM GMT 08 Jan 2010
The woman, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, was celebrating her engagement to her 44-year-old boyfriend, and was allegedly attacked when she passed out in a hotel lavatory.
Despite approaching police about the attack, she was arrested after admitting to "illegal drinking" outside licensed premises as well as having sexual intercourse outside marriage. Her fiancé was also charged with the same offences. …………
A cellmate of the woman told The Sun: "She's a British girl but a Muslim, so I think they were tougher on her because of that.
"She was trying to report the rape but soon realised the policemen were more interested in how often she has sex with her boyfriend."
Her attacker is believed to have denied rape, claiming she consented, but he has also been charged with "illegal sex". …………………
Telegraph, UK
Given that many Indian companies will bring in chinese workers to India itself given a chance, it is too much to hope that Indian companies will hire only Indians. On the other hand, given the exploitation of Indian workers there, whether the Chinese workers will agree to similar wage/working conditions as Indians and pakistanis is also a open questionNEW DELHI: The States rolled out the red carpet to affluent non-resident Indians on the concluding day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, even as Indians in the Gulf — the biggest block of them all and responsible for a major chunk of remittances — bemoaned poor working conditions, legal hassles and patchy social security there.
...
Speakers from Saudi Arabia dominated the session on the Gulf, partly because the country has the highest number of Indians in the region, 18 lakh. Leaders of the Indian community in the Gulf sought a rehabilitation plan for the thousands of workers left stranded there by unscrupulous agents or being retrenched because of recession. They also spoke of an “invasion” by the Chinese with their workers following contractors bagging billion-dollar construction projects.
Even as some speakers raised the bogey of Indians being pushed out of the Gulf by the Chinese in another two years, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor made it clear that New Delhi did not share their perception.
“We don’t see competition here. We also get reports. If Chinese contactors are hiring Chinese workers, Indian contactors should turn to India,” Mr. Tharoor said.
...
...
The US has called on the United Arab Emirates to review a court ruling which acquitted a member of its ruling family of torture charges.
The court found Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan not guilty of abusing an Afghan man - apparently on grounds of diminished responsibility.
A US state department official said questions had been raised and the US would welcome a careful review.
PJ Crowley, a spokesman for the US state department, said all members of Emirati society "must stand equal before the law".
"We remain concerned for the victims of this horrible crime," he said.
"We'd welcome a careful review of this decision... to ensure that the demands of justice are fully met in this case."
The judge delivering the verdict in the trial did not explain the reasons for the acquittal.
Abu Dhabi sheikh cleared of sex assault
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Published: January 10 2010 23:44 | Last updated: January 10 2010 23:44
A member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family has been cleared of beating and sexually assaulting an Afghan trader after a court accepted he had been drugged before the attack took place. .......................
During the trial he presented witnesses who said the Nabulsi brothers had conspired to drug Sheikh Issa. An Indian cook at the farm was also sentenced to three years for aiding the medication. ………………….
Financial Times
Anna Zacharias
RAS AL KHAIMAH // Amr al Hassan remembers his grandfather, Yousef Abdulla, as a distinguished sea captain, a quiet and respected family man who travelled from Basra to Zanzibar so his family could lead a good life.
“But there was a dark side,” Mr al Hassan said.
“There was some kind of rebellion.”
These days, visitors to Mr al Hassan’s door shop in the old Maaridh souq are treated to rosewater tea while they admire heirlooms of the captain: a hand painted Quran from India, a string of perfumed prayer beads, a photo of his grandfather’s ship on the African coast sailing past skinny coconut palms.
But behind the heirlooms lies a story of intrigue in which leaders of a 1959 rebellion in Oman were spirited away to refuge in Saudi Arabia – aboard a ship skippered by Mr al Hassan’s grandfather.
Until a few weeks ago, Mr al Hassan was reluctant to speak of his grandfather’s role in the rebellion. But now he tells the following story:
His grandfather, like other men in Oman, was secretly active in the Jebel Akhdar rebellion against the British and an unpopular Sultan who discouraged any trace of modernity in his country.
Yousef Abdulla, an orphan raised by his uncle, had worked hard to rise to the role of captain on the Wasna, or “Lazy Woman”, a powerful Kuwaiti ship that made the traditional annual journey from Ras al Khaimah to Iraq, Pakistan, India, Zanzibar, Somalia and Oman.
He had survived three shipwrecks, once clinging to a piece of driftwood until he and his crew were saved by a passing ship.
But none of this prepared him for the adventure in 1959, when Oman was split by rebellion.
The rebellion did not end well for the Imamate, led by Ghalib bin Ali al Hinawi, a little known sheikh of Bani Hinna. The Imamate, governed by the religious Ibadi leaders of Oman’s interior, had been in armed conflict with the Sultanate for its political independence since at least 1895. After the rebellion of the 1950s it fell to the Sultanate.
Ghalib and his brother Talib, the wali of Rustaq, were relatively powerless in Oman but were backed by Saudi Arabia, which had interests in Oman’s oil, and Egypt, which supported Arab nationalism against the British-backed Sultan.
When the rebellion collapsed, the brothers fled to Saudi Arabia.
The story of their escape has remained undocumented until today. And this, Mr al Hassan says, is where his grandfather stepped in.
The captain, about 40 at the time, found himself on the Omani coast as the Imamate fell.
“The imam and his brother were looking for a way to escape to Saudi,” Mr al Hassan said.
“They couldn’t go by desert because they would be caught. They were in the port while my grandfather was getting ready to leave.
“As he told me, their faces were covered because they were too famous and they asked the leader of the ship, the nakhouda, to carry them to Saudi, to Dammam.”
Mr al Hassan said his grandfather agreed and then found himself responsible for their welfare.
“When he learnt of their identity they were in the middle of the sea where they could not return,” he said, “and then he had to avoid the Sultan’s ships.”
It took the captain more than 10 days to reach RAK.
“The British ports were all looking for Talib and Ghalib,” Mr al Hassan said.
When they arrived, the fugitives were ushered secretly into his grandfather’s home near Maaridh harbour. Because of Ras al Khaimah’s allegiance with the British, they could not stay in RAK for long.
The British agency, a fort that still stands, was within a kilometre of Captain Abdulla’s house. He had not taken them over such treacherous waters only to be discovered in his own land. He had to keep moving. Furthermore, Mr al Hassan said, Sheikh Saqr of RAK did not want problems with the Sultan, and was close with Saudi Arabia.
Sheikh Saqr sent his special guards to the house to get information, Mr al Hassan said. “This was before SMS and e-mail. They knocked on all the doors to tell people that these men were the guests of Yousef Abdulla and they were not to say anything.
“They stayed here for maybe four days and then started a trip to carry them from Maaridh to Dammam. It was a very dangerous area; all that area was under British protection and they could not go near Bahrain, which was a military station.”
Dammam is on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast, near Bahrain.
The trip was successful, and the imam and the sea captain gained each other’s trust.
“He didn’t tell anybody about them,” Mr al Hassan said. “After Talib and Ghalib stayed in Dammam they started sending some, I don’t want to say guns, but military items, to their people in Dhofar.
“My grandfather returned the boom to the Kuwaiti owner and started using the imam’s boat, the jalbut – it is small and faster and they can change its shape.”
Mr al Hassan told the story at his workshop, just across from his grandfather’s old house. The tiny room where the fugitives slept is now used for storage, littered with buckets and shoes.
It is something Mr al Hassan has long kept a secret because a man from the RAK Government involved in the hiding was alive until a few months ago. But he said many gun smugglers from RAK helped rebels in Oman. Now that a half-century has passed, more people are ready to share their family history.
Mr al Hassan remembers his grandfather being proud of his role in the uprising but understanding the importance of discretion.
“When he was an old man, he liked to remember his travels,” Mr al Hassan said. “The history books write that Ghalib travelled to Dammam, but they don’t write how. ”
Some details are still in question.
Dr Hasan al Naboodha, the head of history at UAE University and a specialist in Ibadi history, believes the journey must have happened with the approval of the British.
“After the army was defeated, most of the army were killed so they had no choice but to surrender,” he said. “They decided to leave Oman, and Saudi Arabia opened the door for them. It was just an agreement between them and the Sultan. I don’t think they escaped.”
It is certain Emiratis were involved in the conflict, but more worked for the British and the Sultan’s forces than for the rebels.
“For the people here, they are all Sunni and they didn’t care much about what is happening in Oman because they were Ibadis,” Dr al Naboodha said.
“They didn’t pay any kind of attention to this sort of war. Most of the people at that time, they just wanted to live. Maybe he accompanied them to RAK. I know they came to Sharjah.”
The mystery remains whether the story of Yousef Abdulla is the colourful embellishment of a sanctioned journey of Oman’s last elected Ibadi imam or if the strangers were indeed two political fugitives escaping the Sultan and the British. Perhaps it is a secret that the captain took to his grave.
Whatever the facts, his family is proud and knows the tale well.
Yousef Abdulla made his last trip from Basra in 1967, on a motorised ship named the Mumtaz.
“He didn’t care about money,” Mr al Hassan said. “He cared about the sea. After more than 40 years from the sea, he felt tired.”
NRao wrote: Jan 12, 2009 :: Four Saudi soldiers killed fighting Yemen Houthi rebels
Alongside the fighting in the north and a secessionist movement in the south, Western policymakers believe al-Qaeda is gaining a foothold in Yemen.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said instability in Yemen was a global as well as regional threat.
Can't remember, 2 years ago. Don't think I went to Karama during that trip. If I had to guess, it was close to Bur Dubai or Deira.JE Menon wrote:Karama?
Sorry but could you please elaborate for noobs like me?shyamd wrote:Was going through some old photos and found this one. Took this in 2007. Funny the way things turned out.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 15, 2010, 11:09 PM (GMT+02:00)
Saudi, Syrian rulers can't raise the Palestinian house of cards.
Saudi, Syrian rulers can't raise the Palestinian house of cards.
There was no word by Friday, Jan. 15, that Syrian president Bashar Assad, who arrived seven hours late for his appointment with King Abdullah in Riyadh Wednesday, Jan. 13, had left for home or any announcement about their talks, DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report. He was invited by the Saudi King to meet Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak for a fence-mending summit. But Mubarak did not turn up.
The king had planned for the three Arab rulers to get together on the Palestinian feud and apply to the Palestinian quarrel their success in forging a unity government in Beirut, the key to which entailed Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri accepting Hizballah as a coalition partner and going to Damascus to shake the hand of his father's alleged murderer, Bashar Assad.
Syria represented Iran in this process.
Abdullah hoped Mubarak and Assad would now join hands to force Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal to meet and set up a power-sharing Palestinian administration in Ramallah for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The two architects of this scheme were the Saudi intelligence chief Prince Moqrin Abdulazziz and his Syrian opposite number and strongman, Gen. Ali Mamluk. Its success would have put Israel in an awkward position over Palestinian representation at possible peace talks, an outcome for which King Abdullah was willing to pay a heavy price - even to kowtowing to Tehran.
1. For the second time in three months, he embarked on an action that required Riyadh to publicly concede that nothing can be achieved in the Middle East these days without Iran's nod.
The Saudi monarch went ahead with his Palestinian maneuver, after listening politely to the visiting US National Security Adviser James Jones expounding on administration policy on Iran in Riyadh Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Then too he was not convinced Washington would pursue any effective policy against Iran and its nuclear program, any more than he had trusted the assurances given him last year by President Barack Obama in person, defense secretary Robert Gates or presidential envoy Dennis Ross.
This mistrust was summed up in Abdullah's recent remark: “We have heard enough words from you [Washington]. Action we have yet to see.”
2. After bowing to the formation of a Lebanese unity government powerless to throw off the Syrian yoke or stop Hizballah from seizing large parts of the country, King Abdullah accepted that any Palestinian power-sharing deal must give Hamas a strong position in Ramallah as well as Gaza. He knew Tehran and Damascus will only go along with Palestinian unity if Khaled Meshaal came out of the deal stronger and Abbas weaker.
DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report that this effort is so far stuck nowhere and there is not much point in US envoy George Mitchell returning to the region next week for a fresh bid to revive Israel-Palestinian talks.
But King Abdullah will most probably keep on trying to rebuild his Palestinian house of cards even though it keeps on falling down - like the one which collapsed last week in Yemen.
DEBKAfile's Saudi experts report that the Saudi military has meanwhile returned to the Yemen battlefield against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the north, less than a month after striking a deal guaranteed by the Syrian president for a Saudi troop pull-out from Yemen to be matched by a Houthi withdrawal from Saudi territory.
Abdullah made the mistake of counting on Assad's word binding Tehran too as the Yemeni rebels' sponsor. But the departing Houthis turned round and quickly regained their former positions in the southern Saudi provinces.
The situation in Lebanon is pretty fragile too. Its stability depends on prime minister Hariri continuing to let Hizballah expand its holdings undisturbed. And any deal the Saudi king might pull off between the rival Palestinian factions would go the same way, if Iran's protégée, Hamas, were to be thwarted.
I really dont know if there would have been any concealment of information. Citi has had too much at stake in the Gulf for the past 20 years ever since Prince Al-Waleed first invested in Citicorp way back in 1990 when John Reed, then Chairman, made his pitch at a meeting in Bahrain. Since there is a lot of personal rivalry between the various Gulf Royals it is possible that Abu Dhabi feels miffed that the KIA who also invested in Citi made a profit while its own timing was disastrously wrong. IMO it was a matter of timing. Ofcourse this is purely conjecture.From IOL and my sources:
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds have approached several investigative and forensic accounting firms for help in determining whether it paid too much for some companies they acquired. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority initiated court proceedings against the Citibank. ADIA committed itself to investing nearly $7.5 billion in Citigroup in 2007 but now feels the bank concealed some information from it.
Please do. It will be very interesting to see how this issue is being handled. Its a very hot economic-political potato.----------------------
A lot has been happening in the $20billion case between the 2 massive KSA business families, Al Sanea and Ghosaibi. Bahrain launched an investigation and is now landed in a soup with Riyadh. I can talk more about it if people are interested.
while the same article continues with the ADIA part of the story:The Kuwait Investment Authority, the Gulf country's sovereign wealth fund, said Sunday it sold a $4.1 billion stake in Citigroup Inc. making a profit on the deal.
The fund, also known as the KIA, said it made a $1.1 billion profit from the sale, or a 36.7% return on its investment, according to an emailed statement.
ADIA feels like a fool because they have committed to paying $31.83 per share for stock whose value now is below $4.00 per share hence they are trying to wriggle out of their commitment by alleging fraud.Kuwait's exit from Citi comes as rival Gulf sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, may have to overpay on about $7.5 billion worth of the Citi's shares it's committed to buy at $31.83 a piece in a deal struck two years ago.
The United Arab Emirates-based investment fund, also known as ADIA, committed in November 2007 to pump billions into Citi in return for an 11% dividend up to March next year when it has to start buying the bank's common stock.
The bank's stock traded in New York closed at $4.09 last week
I bet they feel stupid!ADIA feels like a fool because they have committed to paying $31.83 per share for stock whose value now is below $4.00 per share hence they are trying to wriggle out of their commitment by alleging fraud.
No its not really beccause of his mother, its because his dad is the guy who went to Lebanon and set up a KSA govt in exile. So his dad is hated within royal circles. Its easy to understand really. I think they told his dad never to come back to KSA or is allowed but not allowed to speak anything political, but Al Waleed is allowed and did use his position to get business.Al-Waleed is an interesting story. Because of his Lebanese mother he is never quite the equal to the other Princes in the real power equation. But he willing to deal with anyone to get his deals through. Witness his co-investment with Bill Gates with a very Jewish Isadore Sharp of the Four Seasons.
Not only that, they are investing to help win influence in Moscow. This will mean Riyad can buy off Moscow to stop support to Tehran.Also your take on the KSA royals investing in Russian oil is interesting. I was wondering as to motive here. One bit of speculation has been that the bubble in the oil markets has been financed by the producers themselves (Arab up until now) for various reasons (I can go into the details). With Russia being an exporter to the tune of 7mm bpd, I am wondering if this is a move by KSA to coopt Russia into this carry trade to perpetuate the oil bubble.
More at:From Times Online
January 18, 2010
Gulf dispute puts and end to Islamic Solidarity Games
They were intended to demonstrate that the Islamic world could overcome its differences through sport.
Instead the Islamic Solidarity Games in Iran have fallen victim to a decades-old territorial dispute and been cancelled.
The row stems from Tehran's design for the medals. Engraved alongside an outline of Iran, the medals carry the words "Persian Gulf" to denote the body of water separating the country from the Arabian Peninsula. Control and ownership of the stretch of water has long been a source of friction between Iran and its neighbours.
Saudi Arabia and other nations in the region objected to the wording, which also appeared on Iran's promotional materials for the event. When the medal designs first appeared last year, Iran was asked to change the wording first to "Arabian Gulf", and then simply to "Gulf".
Yemen’s central problems are two: the ongoing civil war that the government is waging against the Houthi tribe in the country’s north, and the suppression of a secessionist movement in the south.
The West and Saleh do not have the same enemy. Al-Qaeda is the West’s enemy, while Saleh’s true enemies are the Houthis and the separatists of the south.
The forthcoming London conference could prove to be either a trap for the West or the beginning of a true effort at the kind of domestic reform that can prevent Yemen from becoming another Afghanistan. If the West buys into Saleh’s depiction of a war against Al-Qaeda, it will be trapped into supporting him and his failed policies. But if it looks beyond terrorism to the root causes of the problem, and presses Saleh to begin to share power, Yemen need not become another safe haven for terrorists.
Citizens of 34 nations exempt from UAE visit visa waiting period
Other visitors have to wait one month before applying again.
Dubai: Citizens of 34 countries do not have to wait one month before applying for a visit visa after leaving the UAE, a senior Interior Ministry official said.
Rush of terror alerts on three continents plus Middle EastISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majid called on Sultan Qaboos Bin Said on Saturday and exchanged views on a range of issues, with specific reference to the security situation in South Asia, the Gulf region, and the Middle East.
The CJCSC is on an official visit to the Sultanate of Oman for bilateral defence talks on the invitation of the chief of staff Sultan’s Armed Forces (COSSAF).
General Majid and Sultan Said also discussed the impact of the emerging traditional and non-traditional challenges confronting Pakistan and Oman, maritime security situation in the North Arabian Sea, progress of bilateral defence and security cooperation and other matters of mutual interest.
The CJCSC briefed the dignitary on the challenging security dynamics in Afghanistan and on Pakistan’s ongoing efforts against terrorism and violent extremism. The Sultan was also informed about the progress of the operations in FATA, Malakand and Swat.
Jordanian king orders security crackdown against al QaedaNew Delhi airport today
In the last three days, the governments of eleven countries have scrambled to elevate their preparedness levels for Islamist terror, or enforced extraordinarily stringent security measures. Another six governments have pursued these steps without fanfare.
Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23, India placed its airlines and airports and those of all of South East Asia -Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - on alert for a possible airplane hijacking by al Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Taibem. The UK elevated its terror threat level from "substantial" to "severe" - one below top and suspended direct British airline flights to and from Yemen.
Last week, five Britons were apprehended at Islamabad airport attempting to pass their boarding passes to five others. Yemen itself stopped issuing entry visas at Sanaa airport. The British appear to fear a fresh spate of terrorism inside the country.
Although the Obama administration has not formally raised the current terror alert level, vigilance at all American airports and border posts has been radically heightened since a Nigerian terrorist tried to blow up the Northwest airliner on Christmas day. Since Jan. 4, the airlines and passengers from 14 listed countries have faced body screening before boarding flight to the United States. Last week, six people on the newly-expanded no-fly list were not allowed to board US-bound flights.
Saturday, US airport authorities were warned that at least two female suicide bombers of "non-Arab appearance" and bearing Western passports may have been sent to America by al Qaeda-Yemen - either to blow up US-bound flights or commit suicide attacks inside the country.
Referring to the failed airline bombing, tormer White House counter-terrorism adviser Richard Clarke told ABC: "There are others who are still out there who have been trained and who are clean skins - that means people who we do not have a record of, who may not look like al Qaeda terrorists, who may not be Arabs, and may not be men."
On Dec. 26, the day after the Northwest incident, DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources reported that since early October, President Obama and top US security officials have been aware of the new network or cluster of cells taking shape in Europe. First detected by the German BND, it appears to be structurally similar to the Hamburg cell, which planned and executed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. The German agency also tipped off Israel to its forecast of a new wave of Islamist terror threatening the US and other parts of the world. (my comment: it was BND that tipped off India about the paraglider purchase)
The new network has recruited new faces not on Western anti-terror services books with no known links to al Qaeda members or members of their families.
On Dec. 11, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 425 disclosed: "Al Qaeda is believed to have taken to employing in their European networks typical Westerners of Caucasian appearance, quite different from the stereotypical Muslim."
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates have taken their own precautions. Jordan's security services are fully mobilized since the attempt to blow up an Israeli embassy convoy on Jan. 15. Israel routinely receives terrorist advisories from Western intelligence agencies and maintains its own security regimen at home.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 22, 2010, 6:59 PM (GMT+02:00)
Jordan's King Abdullah II
Jordan's King Abdullah II
Jordan's King Abdullah II called together his security chiefs this week and ordered them to put all their resources behind an urgent crackdown against a rising terrorist threat, after two serious breaches caught them napping. He referred to the Jordanian triple agent Khalil Al-Balawi, who blew himself up at the CIA Forward Base Chapman in Afghanistan on Jan. 14, killing seven US agents and a Jordanian intelligence officer, and the roadside blasts which just missed Israeli diplomatic vehicles on a Jordanian road last Friday, Jan. 15
Their target was Israeli ambassador Daniel Nevo.
Western intelligence sources in the Gulf told DEBKAfile that Abdullah hauled his security chiefs over the coals accusing them of allowing a deep Al Qaeda penetration of Jordan's General Intelligence Department (GID) in the person of Balawi, and ordering them to watch out for more like him. He rebuked them for the lax security in Jordan's capital and main roads, which enabled terrorists to plant roadside bombs. They were told to get their act together fast, because al Qaeda was no doubt preparing more attacks against Jordanian, US and Israeli targets in the kingdom - or even across the border into Israel.
It would not be the first time.
On Nov. 20, 2003, an al Qaeda gunman broke through Jordanian guards and began shooting at tourists passing through the Araba crossing near the Israeli port of Eilat. An Ecuadoran woman was killed and four others were injured. Two years later, on Aug. 19, 2005, missiles launched from Jordan hit Eilat and US warships docked in the Jordanian port of Aqaba. They immediately put out to sea.
DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources report that King Abdullah's scolding has had at least one result. Jordan's five leading Salafi preachers, whose fatwas are respected by al Qaeda and other Islamist organizations as their religious authority for terrorist acts, were summoned to GID headquarters for an ultimatum: Sign an edict banning suicide attacks in Jordan or anywhere else in the world or go to prison.
The imams agreed to sign the new fatwas which also included a prohibition on calling any Muslim leaders apostates and relegated sole authority for the issue of edicts to government-appointed clerics.
Our sources strongly doubt that the five al Qaeda imams will abide by their undertaking or that the Hashemite Kingdom will be spared more terror.