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AMMAN — Minister of Tourism Lina Annab on Sunday attended a cultural diplomacy event organised by the Indonesian embassy in Amman under the title “The Richness of Indonesian Heritage: Batik Show, Accessories and Culinary” with the aim of promoting the Indonesian heritage through the arts of batik and culinary, an embassy statement said.

Indonesian ambassador Andy Rachmianto briefed the attendees on batik, a combination of art and craft that uses wax and dye to decorate fabric. Indonesian Batik was formally recognised as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.

The ceremony witnessed the participation of government officials, ambassadors, businessmen, academics and artists who enjoyed culinary tasting and a variety of activities centered around the art of batik, the statement said.

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs Jamal Sarayreh conveyed His Majesty King Abdullah, Prime Minister Hani Mulki and the government’s  greetings to Christians in Jordan on the occasion of Easter, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

During his visit to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in Amman, accompanied by a group of ministers and the heads of the Christian churches in Jordan, Sarayreh expressed his content in participating in the Easter ceremony. 

He said that Easter comes in a time of triumph over Israel’s unilateral behaviours, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has reopened its doors after it has been closed for the first time in history in protest against assault to sanctities.

AMMAN — Labour Minister Samir Murad on Sunday stressed that there is “no change” in the decision making mechanism related to the Social Security Corporation’s (SSC) investment fund, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Murad, who is also the chairman of the SSC’s board of directors, added that the process of deciding to open investments comprises several phases including oversight and evaluation and is subject to governance, institutionalism and a firm procedural sequence.

AMMAN — Social Development Minister Hala Lattouf on Sunday joined underprivileged families in celebrating this Easter season at the Mahaba (“Love”) charity restaurant of Caritas Jordan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The minister provided funds to the restaurant which offers free meals to some 350 underprivileged individuals daily, in order to help it continue providing its charity services. 

AMMAN – Senator Talal Abu-Ghazaleh will head to Boston to deliver a lecture at the SciTech Conference, hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on April 15. On the following day, he will be a guest at Harvard University, where he is scheduled to deliver another lecture.

The visit to MIT "comes upon an invitation by the Arab Students Organisation (ASO) at the institute," where Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation (TAG-Org), will deliver the concluding remarks at SciTech Conference organised by ASO, during which he will present his vision of the future of technology in the world and its impact on human life worldwide, according to TAG-Org Senior Media Advisor and Special Representative for International Strategic Communication Khalid Dalal.

At Harvard, Abu-Ghazaleh's visit to the world's most prominent educational institution comes upon an invitation from the Harvard Arab Students Association, according to Dalal, who added that the senator will outline in his lecture his success story and discuss prospects of cooperation between TAG-Org and the students association.

On the sidelines of the visit, Abu-Ghazaleh will hold meetings to promote knowledge transformation in the Arab region, and how best to harness the abilities and knowledge of Arab graduates from international universities, especially those topping global ranking lists.

Commenting on his planned US visit, Abu-Ghazaleh said: "Time has come for qualified Arab alumni of the world's top-500 universities to take the initiative and contribute to transforming Arab countries into knowledge communities and knowledge governments".

AMMAN- Police on Monday were searching for a man who allegedly robbed a bank in a busy street in Amman using a fake gun and escaping with JD16,000 in cash.

The suspect reportedly entered the Arab Bank branch at Mecca street in the morning hours and waved a pistol, which police later said was fake, and demanded cash, official sources said. 

The suspect then fled on foot and crossed an empty lot and escaped with a vehicle, official sources added.

"The police have a good description of the man and colour of the vehicle and we  have intensified our efforts to arrest the suspect'" a senior police official said.

This is the fifth attack on banks in Amman since the beginning of the year. Three suspects were arrested while a fourth who escaped with over JD90,000 remains at large.

AMMAN — Jordan has participated in the 18th ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on the 5th and 6th of April titled “Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday. 

The gathering, in which Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani headed the Jordanian delegation, stressed support for Jordan’s role under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah in the guardianship and management of Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.

In their final communiqué, participants praised the Hashemite custodianship of the holy shrines, and Jordan’s role in providing protection and services to these sites.

The statement also condemned Israel’s illegal policies and practices as an occupying power against the Palestinian people, illegal construction and expansion of settlements, the destruction of Palestinian homes and property, and collective punishment against the civilian population, including the imprisonment and detention of thousands of civilians, as well as the illegal blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The ministers reiterated their call for intensifying efforts to end the Israeli occupation on Palestinian territories in 1967, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with the international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.

The communiqué also called on the international community to support Palestinians achieve their legitimate rights, including the right to self-determination and the establishment a fully sovereign independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital within the pre-1967 lines, in accordance with UN resolutions, Arab Peace Initiative and the road map proposed by the International Quartet on Mideast, in addition to a just solution to the Palestine refugees issue on the basis of the UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

The participants expressed their concern about the increasing number of refugees due to the Syrian crisis, and praised the great efforts made by host countries, Jordan in particular, to shelter refugees despite the political, social, economic and financial burdens borne.

The final communiqué underlined the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in providing support to host countries in order to enable them to cope with the burdens borne as a result of hosting Syrian refugees.

The member states expressed the concern on the humanitarian situation caused by the high number of refugees and displaced people due to conflicts in the Non-Aligned Movement countries

The statement also stressed the need to support UNRWA following the US government’s decision to cut support for the agency.

AMMAN — The government on Friday condemned storming of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif by Israeli occupation forces and Jewish extremists, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

State Minister for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said that the occupation forces and the extremists assaulted a number of worshippers, used pepper spray and closed the southern mosque inside the sanctuary, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Momani said that the Jewish religious holidays have unfortunately become occasions to increase tension at the mosque, voicing rejection of the practices of extremists groups, who barge into the Muslim holy shrine under the protection of the Israeli police, which breach the sanctity of the holy place and provokes the prayers.

Momani, who is government’s spokesman, stressed that Israel, as an occupying authority in East Jerusalem, is responsible for the safety of the mosque, worshippers, and Jerusalem Awqaf staff, as part of its commitments under the international law and the international humanitarian law.

He also stressed the importance of respecting Jordan’s role as the custodian of East Jerusalem’s holy places as stipulated by the peace treaty binding the two countries.

AMMAN — The Department of Antiquities (DoA) has announced that the lead codices allegedly found in a northern Jordan cave between 2005-2007 have been proven forged. 

The codices, comprised of more than 70 ring-bound books entirely made of lead, were reportedly found in a remote valley over a decade ago.

The DoA Director General Monther Jamhawi said that the codices are a kind of “professional” forgery that was executed skillfully.

“This advanced counterfeit has created confusion as ancient materials were used, such as lead and stones, and inscribing them with ancient look-alike texts and drawings that are hard to be tested,” Jamhawi told The Jordan Times on Saturday.   

The official said that this case had attracted the attention of international and local media and as well as a number of researchers and enthusiasts, who relied only on initial laboratory tests of the materials, which had been found authentic.

In response, the DoA issued a press release on March 9, 2017, in which it confirmed that the items needed further examining to ensure the authenticity of the writings and drawings apart from the materials, said the director. 

The department formed a committee of researchers and epigraphists, who examined the books and confirmed that they were not authentic.  

In its report, the taskforce concluded that the examination from an archaeological point of view proved that the metal books were false and worthless as they contained “irrelevant old letters and images” and that the manufacturer had no background about ancient inscriptions and their technical details or religious significance.

Also last year, the DoA formed a national team of researchers and specialists that scanned the area of the cave where the codices were allegedly discovered but did not find any relevance between the codices and the cave, particularly as no cavities in the cave’s walls were found.

At the time, the department described the findings of British scientist David Elkington as baseless, stressing that the cave was not found and the pictures he had, had nothing to do with the cave that was visited, which indicates that his insistence on the originality of the codices is baseless and uncredible. 

David and Jennifer Elkington have led a campaign since 2009 to secure international recognition of the manuscripts, but other scholars, according to a BBC report, have also refuted their claims. 

AMMAN — Jordan and Iraq plan to increase cooperation in the transport field, including through twinning Aqaba and Basra ports.

During a meeting between Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority Chief Commissioner Nasser Shraideh and Iraqi Transport Minister Kadhim Al Hammami, both sides discussed twinning Jordanian and Iraqi ports and opening an air freight route between Aqaba’s King Hussein International Airport and Iraqi airports. 

Hammami and Shraideh also went over means to conduct a feasibility study on the Asian railway network and improve truck shipping to reach Egypt, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Shraideh highlighted the importance of using Aqaba as a gateway for Iraqi goods to enhance economic integration through utilising the Tureibil border crossing and launching regular air freight routes between Aqaba and each of Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah and Basra to boost Iraqi tourism to Aqaba.

The Cabinet in February approved the framework agreement for the Basra-Aqaba oil pipeline that will be signed between the Ministry of Energy and the Iraqi Oil Ministry. 

The project aims to export Iraqi oil with the pipeline passing through Jordan while supplying the Kingdom with some of its oil needs.

The oil pipeline is expected to provide the Kingdom with some 150,000 barrels of crude oil a day.