AMMAN, 26 November 2004 — The Jordanian government yesterday welcomed the reported US Defense Department’s decision to sell Amman anti-aircraft missiles to Jordan despite opposition by Israel. “We highly appreciate the US administration’s approval of the deal and we believe that we have the right to possess the suitable defense system,” Culture Minister and official government spokesperson Asma Khader said.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Wednesday that it had notified Congress about the proposed $39 million advanced medium range air-to-air missiles deal.
“The proposed sale will enhance the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a key regional partner who has proven to be a vital force for political stability and peace in the Middle East,” the agency said.
It pointed out that Jordan needed the missiles to enhance the air-to-air self-defense capability of its F-16 fighter jets and make it easier for Jordan’s military to operate jointly with US forces.
“From the very beginning, Jordan expected the US administration to approve the Jordanian request, because Jordan so far proved to use arms rationally for defending its land,” Khader said.
Commenting on the reported Israeli attempt to block the deal, the Jordanian minister said, “it is a Jordanian-US issue and no one has the right to interfere. Jordan does not interfere in other countries’ affairs and we expect same from them.”
Iranian Kurd Refugees Resettle in Sweden
More than 200 Iranian Kurds, who have been stranded on the Iraqi-Jordanian border for the last 19 months, left Wednesday night for Sweden after the authorities there agreed to grant them asylum, UN officials said yesterday.
The first batch of Iranian Kurd refugees comprising 202 men, women and children left aboard a chartered flight, according to officials at the Amman office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
A second group of 183 Iranian Kurds are scheduled to fly to Sweden on Dec. 9, they said. The 385 refugees were moved last month from the Karameh camp on the no-man’s-land between Jordan and Iraq to the Rweished camp, 60 kilometers west of the Jordanian-Iraqi border, for training in the Swedish way of life after the Swedish Migration Board agreed to allow them to re-settle there.
