Jordanian killed in Ukraine rebel-controlled town

AMMAN — A Jordanian citizen was found killed in Donetsk, Ukraine, with no details available so far on how he was killed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

Thaer Nawaiseh, who graduated from one of the Ukrainian universities in 2010, was running a restaurant with  Egyptian citizen, and both of them were found killed Monday.

“We still have no information about how he was killed, and are waiting to receive further details,” Sabah Rafie, the ministry’s spokesperson told The Jordan Times over the phone.

However, this prompted the ministry to issue an announcement calling on Jordanians staying in regions of turmoil in Ukraine to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Rafie.

Meanwhile, Sergey Pasko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Jordan, said the embassy sent a letter to authorities in his country for further details about the issue.

However, he noted that it is not easy to obtain information from Donetsk as it is one of the cities currently dominated by “terrorists” and the area is out of power with no good connection.

 “We want to do whatever we can to secure Jordanians in Ukraine, thus I discussed with the minister of higher education the possibility of transferring Jordanian students who are enrolled in universities in areas of unrest to other cities,” Pasko told The Jordan Times, adding that the ministry has agreed on accrediting certificates issued from other universities as a solution to help move students.

The diplomat said he has no information on the number of Jordanians who are currently in Ukraine, noting that a large number of students have already returned to the Kingdom.

In a previous statement to The Jordan Times, the ambassador last month said there are 3,500 Jordanian students studying in Ukraine and almost half of them have returned to Jordan due to the situation there.

However, he noted that the academic semester in his country’s universities finished on May 20, and most of the Jordanian students might have already left.

Meanwhile, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Jordan Times that arrangements are under way for the possibility of sending an RJ flight to transfer Jordanians who are still in Ukraine to the Kingdom.

The source noted that the flight might be arranged this weekend or in the  middle of next week.