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15 Nov 2011 14:18

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World: Jordan’s King Abdullah would step down were he Assad

  • An “expiration date”: Here’s a look at an interview recently conducted with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who speaks in understandably pessimistic terms about the nature of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. While predicting that the use of violence against his own citizens meant that Assad could not maintain power unchallenged, he also expressed concern as to who would lead Syria afterwards — a member of the same regime doing little good. This comes at a time of great violence in Syria; just yesterday between fifty and seventy-one people were killed. source

05 Feb 2011 09:30

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World: Egypt pipeline explosion: Terrorism, sabotage or something else?

  • Was this terrorism or something else? This unexpected pipeline explosion in northern part of the Sinai Peninsula has disrupted the gas flow from Egypt to Jordan, and some suggest it might be meant as a larger message to other Middle East countries (namely Israel). Egypt supplies Israel with nearly 40 percent of its natural gas supply. source

01 Feb 2011 10:38

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World: Analyst: King Abdullah’s new PM in Jordan “a safe pair of hands”

  • I wouldn’t see it as a sign of liberalisation. With his previous premiership, he talked the talk of reform but little actually happened.
  • London’s City University Professor of Middle East policy studies Rosemary Hollis • Revealing about Jordan what’s probably obvious from the fact that a previous prime minister (Marouf Bakhit) was appointed to replace the current one (Samir Rifai): It’s likely an act and probably won’t have any real effect on the leadership of the country. “He’s someone who would be seen as a safe pair of hands,” she noted. To be clear, that’s a safe pair of hands for King Abdullah. source

01 Feb 2011 08:28

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World: Jordan’s new Prime Minister, Maruf Bakhit, an old hat at this job

Meet Jordan’s new Prime Minister, Maruf Bakhit. Look familiar? He should. He was Prime Minister from 2005 to 2007. Talk about change you can believe in. source

08 May 2009 11:43

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World: The Pope makes up for lost time with the Islamic community

  • My visit to Jordan gives me a welcome opportunity to speak of my deep respect for the Muslim community, and to pay tribute to the leadership shown by his majesty the king in promoting a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam.
  • Pope Benedict XVI • On his chance to say nice things about Islam in Jordan, a few years after causing waves in 2006 by quoting a medieval text that used the phrase “evil and inhuman” to describe some of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings. The Pope, obviously, is very sorry about that. • source