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AMMAN — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat on Sunday met his Tanzanian counterpart James Mwakibolwa and an accompanying delegation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meeting, they discussed ways of improving bilateral ties and cooperation between the armed forces of both countries in various fields.

Mwakibolwa was briefed on the Jordanian military’s tasks and duties in various areas. 

AMMAN — Jordan has held parliamentary, local and municipal elections in less than one year, which highlights the political stability enjoyed by the Kingdom and the security apparatuses’ ability to ensure a safe environment for practicing political rights, Amman Governor Saad Shihab said on Sunday. 

During a meeting with Bethlehem Governor Maj. Gen. Jibrin Bakri, Shihab noted that the reform process in Jordan is governed by a national agenda that takes into consideration the inclusion of all components of society, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. He also went over the governors’ duties, the political reforms and the repercussions of the Syrian refugee influx.

For his part, Bakri said that the meeting aimed at benefitting from administrative expertise at the governorate level, especially on decentralisation. 

AMMAN — A Canadian delegation, headed by Ambassador Peter MacDougall, on Sunday visited the eastern military zone where they were briefed by zone commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bani Yaseen on the tasks and duties of the personnel in controlling the Kingdom’s borders and preventing any infiltration or smuggling attempt, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Bani Yaseen stressed that the army has the capabilities to prevent all forms of threat, noting that the zone’s personnel enjoy “high levels of morale”. MacDougall said that the visit aimed to offer the latest equipment to the army. The delegates praised the efforts of the personnel in safeguarding borders.

AMMAN — With the aim of unifying voices of working women  to obtain equal rights in the work environment, a conference was held in Amman on Sunday.

  Titled “Building Partnerships to Develop Gender Platforms: Mosawa Network as a Case Study”, the conference was organised by the Arab Women Organisation (AWO) in collaboration with the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ).

 The conference aims at enhancing the cooperation and networking between women’s associations in Mosawa Network, which includes some 100 associations, according to a statement from the organisers.

The goal of Mosawa is to unify women associations’ efforts to obtain equal rights in the work environment, the statement said.

At the opening of the conference, AWO President Randa Qsous said that the organisation managed to enhance the capabilities of women candidates for municipal and provincial councils held over the summer, and that “the results turned out very well, which boosted us to move into improving partnerships”.

For her part, Yasmine Saadoun, representative of the GIZ, said:”The agency considers that gender support is an important factor in achieving sustainable development in societies. And the German government is keen on supporting gender equality by supporting women in 160 countries around the world.”

She added that, through partnerships with civil society organisations, they managed to empower women in local communities with various training programmes and implementation of micro-funded projects to support women, which also helped in ensuring a gender-sensitive environment.

“Two-hundred-and-fifty municipal council members were trained on leadership skills and 1,000 women participated in activities to raise awareness through debates about gender and decentralisation,” she added.

One of the conference’s recommendations focuses on the capacity of female leaders in women’s associations in the governorates, stating that it should be further strengthened by intensifying training on various productive and cognitive skills.

The recommendation also stressed the need to work with community leaders and officials to promote women’s rights by building cooperative relationships with the press and the media.

AMMAN — Seven people, including four Egyptians, were killed and three others were critically injured on Sunday in two traffic accidents in Azraq and Tafileh governorates, official sources said.

The first accident, which claimed the lives of five people, involved a mini-bus and a trailer which were heading in the same direction on the Azraq Highway on Sunday morning, a senior traffic official said.

“The driver of the bus attempted to overpass the trailer but decided not to afterwards and, when he tried to return to his previous lane, he hit the back of the trailer,” the traffic official told The Jordan Times.

The impact caused the mini-bus to “spin in front of the trailer and was run over by the larger vehicle then the two vehicles skidded some 10 metres and slammed into two parked vehicles on the side road”, the official added.

“All five passengers, including four Egyptians, were killed instantly and our traffic officers who rushed to the scene ruled that the mini-bus driver, who is Jordanian, was at fault,” a second official source said.

The bodies were taken to a nearby hospital for autopsy, the second source said.

On Sunday night, two people were killed and three were critically injured when two cars collided in the Eis area in Tafileh, according to the Civil Defence Department (CDD).

The three injured were rushed to Prince Zeid Bin Hussein, and the bodies are expected to be referred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsy, the CDD said in a statement.

According to Public Security Department  statistics, there were 10,835 road accidents in 2016, resulting in 750 deaths and 17,435 injuries. 

AMMAN  — The Lower House on Sunday endorsed its reply to His Majesty King Abdullah’s Speech from the Throne, which he delivered at the opening of the 18th Parliament’s second ordinary session on November 12.

Under the Constitution, the two Houses of Parliament must submit their replies to the King’s Speech from the Throne within 14 days.

An ad hoc committee comprising 21 lawmakers was recently formed to draft the reply. Deputies on Tuesday elected MP Fawzi Tuaimeh as head of the committee to reply to the Speech from the Throne.

The Senate is expected to meet on Tuesday to finalise its reply to the King’s Speech from the Throne amid speculations that the two Chambers’ replies will be presented before His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday. 

Also on Sunday, the Lower House formed five of its 20 permanent committees during a session that was chaired by its Speaker Atef Tarawneh.

The House usually forms its committees at the start of each ordinary session, but if no consensus is reached, members of the committees will be selected through a secret balloting.

Each permanent committee has to have a minimum of five deputies and a maximum of 11 and no MP is allowed to be a member of more than two committees. 

During the session, deputies named members of the House’s legal, finance, economic and investment; and education and cultural committees, while they elected members of the foreign affairs committee, the Jordan News Agency, Petra,  reported.

AMMAN — A walking aid is what inspired Lina Abu Samha to write a book about her daughter Miryana Jaroun, a child with cerebral palsy (CP), with the hopes of raising funds for a surgery that would enable her to walk independently.

“Let’s fly home” portrays Miryana, a child with CP, as the bright sibling of two brothers, Jaafar and Mustafa, as she helps them to get home on time by flying with balloons tied to her walker, Abu Samha told The Jordan Times over the phone on Sunday.

The story aims to change the societal perception towards children with disabilities and assist them in integrating into society, especially among their peers at school, Miryana’s mother said.

“Story telling is one of the few activities that my three kids can enjoy together. However, I hardly ever found a character that resembles my daughter in any story. I want to make children like my daughter more common for other children through such a story,” she explained. 

Nisreen Oteibi, the president of the Cerebral Palsy Jordan Society (CPS) said that CP patients often struggle with rejection and lack of support that hinder their integration into society.

“Support and acceptance from a friendly society can ensure a better integration of CP patients,” Otaibi said. 

The ratio of CP patients in Jordan was 0.4 per cent in 2016 and has not shown decline over the years, the CPS president said.

Raising funds for the surgery

Miryana has been suffering from chronic neuromuscular spasticity — manifested as an especially high and constant stiffness in the muscles of the lower body — that requires spinal cord surgery, also known as Selective Dorsal Rhizotory.

However, that medical practice is not available in Jordan, according to doctor Saad Abdullah, consultant of neurosurgery and spine surgery.

“In such conditions, continuous physical and occupational therapy can prevent contractures and reduce the severity of symptoms but will never allow her to walk,” he told The Jordan Times.

Miryana’s family contacted St Louis Children Hospital in the US, whose report confirmed that “she was an excellent candidate” for the surgery after reviewing her medical history. 

In a report sent to the family, Surgeon T.S Park said he expected “Miryana to be able to walk independently in all environments” if she underwent the surgery.

“Imagining my daughter able to walk freely motivates me to continue raising awareness and never stop until this dream comes true,” the mother added. 

Abu Samha has been collecting donations for her daughter’s surgery which is expected to take place in April 2018, in addition to the aftermath therapy, which will amount to an overall cost of $100,000.

Through the sales of over 4,000 book copies since September, as well as online fund raising, she said she has managed to raise $ 33,000 so far.

The family of Miryana is accepting donations at
www.gofundme.com/SDRmiryana.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Sunday announced that all ministries, government departments and public institutions will observe a holiday marking Prophet Mohammad’s birthday on Thursday, November 30, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Prophet Mohammad was born on the 12th day of Rabi I in the Islamic calendar.

Mulki stressed in an official statement released on Sunday that all official institutions should contribute in highlighting the "noble" occasion.

AMMAN — Jordan is distinguished by its moderate policy towards various regional challenges, Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said on Sunday.

Speaking during a lecture at the Royal College of Jordanian Command and Staff titled "Jordan's media strategy", Momani, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the "Hashemite leadership's wisdom and solidarity in the face of challenges, the professionalism of our military and security institutions as well as the awareness of our citizens, are the real asset of Jordan".

He stressed that Jordan's Media Strategy aims to create a platform to support the Kingdom's "independent and enlightened" media, based on the principles of freedom and responsibility.  

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Sunday stressed the importance of joint Arab action to safeguard Arab national, economic, political and social security, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The remarks came during his participation in the ministerial emergency meeting of the Arab League that was held at the request of Saudi Arabia to discuss Iranian interference in internal affairs of Arab countries.

Safadi stressed Jordan's keenness, as the president of the current Arab summit, on cooperating with the league’s general secretariat to host or launch a pan-Arab dialogue to reach an understanding of threats facing the Arab nation's security.

The minister urged the league members to work together to achieve common goals, including the realisation of the rights of the Palestinian people to be free of occupation, helping Iraq in its anti-terror fight and the Syrian, Yemeni and Libyan peoples in restoring stability and security to their countries.

"Threatening the security of any given Arab state is a threat to all Arabs," said the minister, stressing Jordan's concern over the security of the kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The top diplomat condemned a recent ballistic missile attack targeting Saudi Arabia, describing it as "heinous", in addition to the terrorist blast that targeted an oil pipeline in Bahrain. He considered the two acts as  threats to the pan-Arab security.

He added that the region does not need more crises, stressing that Arabs seek peace rather than conflicts.

“We want regional relations to be based on cooperation, respect and no interference in the internal affairs of states, in accordance with international laws and conventions”, said Safadi.

“This is the message that the Arab summits have sent to Iran and other countries, and today’s message is that we want relations of respect rather than tension resulting from interference in the Arab affairs, expansionist policy, and pursuit of power and domination,” said the minister.

Reuters reported that participants in the emergency meeting in Cairo warned they would not stand by in the face of Iranian interference in Arab affairs.

Regional tensions have risen in recent weeks between Saudi Arabia and Iran over Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri’s surprise resignation, and an escalation in Yemen’s conflict.

Saudi Arabia also accuses Hizbollah of a role in the launch of the missile towards Riyadh from Yemen this month. Iran denies accusations that it supplies Houthi forces there, the agency said. 

“The kingdom will not stand by and will not hesitate to defend its security,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir told the assembly.

“Any leniency in dealing with their policies would only encourage them more, so we must stand together,” Jubeir said, referring to Iran and its regional policies.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told ministers that Arab nations would raise the matter with international organisations, including the UN Security Council. But the assembly gave no details on what measures they would take. 

“Iranian threats have gone beyond all limits and pushed the region into a dangerous abyss,” Aboul Gheit said.