.Islamists Press Jordan to Stop Aiding U.S. Forces in Afghanistan
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan, one of the United States’ closest allies in the Arab world, came under pressure on Wednesday from Islamists to stop cooperating with American forces in Afghanistan.
Two weeks after a Jordanian suicide bomber blew himself up at a Central Intelligence Agency base in Khost Province, Afghanistan, the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups demanded that the Jordanian government drop its pro-America stance. In a statement titled “It Is Not Our War,” they wrote, “We demand an end to the policy of what is called cooperation or security coordination with the Zionist enemy or the American intelligence agencies, and the withdrawal of Jordanian forces from Afghanistan.”
Jordan’s involvement in Afghanistan became a point of debate here after the suicide bomber, Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor of Palestinian origin, blew himself up at the C.I.A. base on Dec. 30, killing seven Americans and a Jordanian intelligence officer who was his supervisor. Western government officials said that Mr. Balawi was a double agent who was taken onto the base because the Americans hoped he might lead them to senior leaders of Al Qaeda.
Some Jordanians have expressed support for his action, and he has been lionized on Islamist Web sites, where for years he was a popular jihadi blogger.
After his death, one admiring contributor to the Web forum “I Am the Muslim” posted an old interview with Mr. Balawi in which, under his pen name, Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, he described himself as a “born again” jihadist.
Former patients spoke highly of Mr. Balawi, calling him “respectful” and “nice.” Muhammad Saleem Yousef Abu Tuba, 72, a diabetic in the Hittin Palestinian refugee camp in Rusaifah, said he was the best doctor he had ever had. He also supported Mr. Balawi’s attack. “In our religion if you occupy one inch of Muslim land, you must follow the road of martyrdom,” he said.
Hasan Abu Hanieh, a Jordanian analyst of Islamist groups, said that in addition to longstanding anger over the failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many Jordanians questioned their government’s role in a conflict so far from home.
He said that although many Jordanians opposed the American war in neighboring Iraq, after Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia claimed responsibility for blowing up three hotels in Amman in 2005, they at least appreciated the need for Jordan to help track down the group’s Jordanian-born leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
“However, going as far away as Afghanistan and Pakistan is, I think, very difficult to understand,” Mr. Abu Hanieh said. “Most Jordanian people do not even know that there are Jordanian forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and this itself created a shock.”
The Jordanian government defends its involvement in Afghanistan. In Washington on Friday, Jordan’s foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, said, “We’re talking about finding the root causes, finding the root of where terrorists plan and plot, and trying to stop them right there and then.”
But Zaki Saad, a former director of the Islamic Action Front, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing in Jordan, said there was so much anger against the government’s policies — and the marginalization of mainstream Islamist groups like his own — that it was driving radical young people into the arms of Al Qaeda.
“Balawi is not the first case, and he won’t be the last,” he said.
NYT
Problems in Sunni wonderland. W's plan is finally working, I have to wonder what O thinks about that, or is there even anything he can do about it now.
The fuse is lit. I imagine that people will come out of the woodwork to try to stop it before the whole thing blows. Funny thing is Iraq may be the only place in the ME hardened enough to survive in one piece.
Two weeks after a Jordanian suicide bomber blew himself up at a Central Intelligence Agency base in Khost Province, Afghanistan, the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups demanded that the Jordanian government drop its pro-America stance. In a statement titled “It Is Not Our War,” they wrote, “We demand an end to the policy of what is called cooperation or security coordination with the Zionist enemy or the American intelligence agencies, and the withdrawal of Jordanian forces from Afghanistan.”
Jordan’s involvement in Afghanistan became a point of debate here after the suicide bomber, Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor of Palestinian origin, blew himself up at the C.I.A. base on Dec. 30, killing seven Americans and a Jordanian intelligence officer who was his supervisor. Western government officials said that Mr. Balawi was a double agent who was taken onto the base because the Americans hoped he might lead them to senior leaders of Al Qaeda.
Some Jordanians have expressed support for his action, and he has been lionized on Islamist Web sites, where for years he was a popular jihadi blogger.
After his death, one admiring contributor to the Web forum “I Am the Muslim” posted an old interview with Mr. Balawi in which, under his pen name, Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, he described himself as a “born again” jihadist.
Former patients spoke highly of Mr. Balawi, calling him “respectful” and “nice.” Muhammad Saleem Yousef Abu Tuba, 72, a diabetic in the Hittin Palestinian refugee camp in Rusaifah, said he was the best doctor he had ever had. He also supported Mr. Balawi’s attack. “In our religion if you occupy one inch of Muslim land, you must follow the road of martyrdom,” he said.
Hasan Abu Hanieh, a Jordanian analyst of Islamist groups, said that in addition to longstanding anger over the failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many Jordanians questioned their government’s role in a conflict so far from home.
He said that although many Jordanians opposed the American war in neighboring Iraq, after Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia claimed responsibility for blowing up three hotels in Amman in 2005, they at least appreciated the need for Jordan to help track down the group’s Jordanian-born leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
“However, going as far away as Afghanistan and Pakistan is, I think, very difficult to understand,” Mr. Abu Hanieh said. “Most Jordanian people do not even know that there are Jordanian forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and this itself created a shock.”
The Jordanian government defends its involvement in Afghanistan. In Washington on Friday, Jordan’s foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, said, “We’re talking about finding the root causes, finding the root of where terrorists plan and plot, and trying to stop them right there and then.”
But Zaki Saad, a former director of the Islamic Action Front, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing in Jordan, said there was so much anger against the government’s policies — and the marginalization of mainstream Islamist groups like his own — that it was driving radical young people into the arms of Al Qaeda.
“Balawi is not the first case, and he won’t be the last,” he said.
NYT
Problems in Sunni wonderland. W's plan is finally working, I have to wonder what O thinks about that, or is there even anything he can do about it now.
The fuse is lit. I imagine that people will come out of the woodwork to try to stop it before the whole thing blows. Funny thing is Iraq may be the only place in the ME hardened enough to survive in one piece.
posted by madtom at 9:36 PM
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