Al Qaeda warning by king of Jordan . . his forces thwarted major bomb plot

[Ediacara]

Al Qaeda warning by king of Jordan
Abdullah says his forces thwarted major bomb plot



Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, April 17, 2004

Jordan's King Abdullah II, asserting that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network is "still very, very effective," said Friday that his security services had foiled a plot to blow up major government buildings and perhaps the U.S. Embassy in Amman.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Chronicle's editorial board, Abdullah, who is Washington's closest ally among Arab leaders, gave a bleak assessment of the fight against terrorism and the situation in neighboring Iraq, where he said civil war was "a possibility."

He admitted being blindsided by President Bush's strong embrace of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday, embodied by Bush's decision to back Israeli annexation of some land in the West Bank.

More at the San Francisco Chronicle

[xultar]

1. I think the King is really HOTT!!! He also rides motorcycles...really

HOTT!!

[Chicago Democrat]

3. Queen Noor is super cool too! She's American or English and

very beautiful and well spoken.

[SemperEadem]

4. you mean the Dowager Queen Noor

she's no longer the queen... Queen Rania is the current Queen of Jordan.

Queen Noor is King Hussein's widow.

[Demoiselle]

5. Queen Rania is very very gorgeous, too.

I like King Abdullah. I liked his father, too. They seem to be rational and calm while living among the powder kegs.

[AngryAmish]

7. Why would you like the guy?

He is a king. Nobody voted for him. He rose to his position through being born.

People complain about Bush being where he is because of his family. As well they should. But this guy is given maximum power and all y'all can do is sing his praises? Give me a break.

Don't suck up to power.

And don't give me this crap about the region and the culture. I suppose you think it is too much to expect them stoopid A-rabs to respect human rights and allow a vote for the executive.

[Demoiselle]

9. Relax, Angry

I "like" the way he and his father appear tohave played the hand they've been dealt, and that they've tried to act as moderates vis a vis Israel. Yes, it would be lovely if Jordan were a flourishing and stable democracy, but it ain't now and ain't never been. And there haven't been any stories over the last... what...40 years...about surging pro-democracy movements being put down in Jourdan. Would you suggest we invade them too, get rid of Abdullah and establish a "democracy?"

[Pale_Rider]

2. He's really taken on well the mantle of his father ...

... King Hussein, probably one of most just monarchs in the modern era.


http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/office.shtml

[AngryAmish]

8. Just monarch is an oxymoron.

[RainDog]

6. he has to be careful not to criticize too much

because his country is so dependent upon US aid.

but these comments are interesting, and considering the above, and that he is a strong ally of the U.S., I would think the assessment has some validity:

Abdullah sharply criticized the "de-Baathification" campaign in Iraq..."What you did is, you took a third if not more of society and said, 'You're persona non grata,' so a third of the country is isolated," he said. "The problem is that if (Iraqis) wanted to be a teacher, an engineer, or have any job, (they) had to have a party card as a condition of employment. You have to readjust that policy."

The de-Baathification process has been directed by Ahmed Chalabi, a former exile who is a favorite of the Pentagon yet is a fugitive from justice in Jordan. In 1992, a court there convicted Chalabi of fraud and embezzlement in the collapse of a major Jordanian bank in the 1980s and sentenced him to 22 years of hard labor.

Abdullah suggested that Chalabi and other U.S.-backed exiles had ulterior motives in seeking to completely uproot the former regime rather than just removing its top officials.

"When the interim Iraqi government went in, a lot of the people obviously were from the outside, from the opposition groups," he said. "If I can be quite frank, the reason why they didn't want the Iraqi army or the police to be active is because that was the only institution that could have given them a run for their money. Now, by removing law and order, the members of the interim government could strengthen their position."