AMMAN, 15 July 2005 — Jordan’s Lower House of Parliament yesterday voted with clear majority to reject an agreement already concluded between the Jordanian and US governments for the extradition of criminals.
The vote came after a number of lawmakers launched a fierce attack on the United States for occupying neighboring Iraq and supporting Israel’s violations in the Palestinian territories.
Speakers, who belonged to various political groupings, considered the accord as “harmful to Jordan’s sovereignty”, because the United States had so far failed to ratify the International Criminal Court agreement.
“Only Jordanians will be subject to the provisions of the agreement while Americans will be immune to any judicial proceedings,” said Mahmoud Kharabshe, a prominent member of the House’s Standing Legal Committee.
In another development, the Jordanian customs authorities have seized what is suspected to be a car formerly owned by deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, during an attempt to export the vehicle to the United States, a senior official said in remarks published yesterday.
“The black Mercedes 600S car was seized by customs officials at the Red Sea port of Aqaba, when an Iraqi citizen submitted an application for exporting the vehicle to the United States and provided the authorities with a written approval from the Iraqi Traffic Department,” Deputy Director of the Customs Department Khalaf Hazaymeh was quoted as saying by the daily Al-Rai.
“But suspicions surfaced when customs officials found that the chassis and engine numbers were different from those mentioned in the car’s book,” he added. “The vehicles plate number was also changed from 12 to 614,” Hazaymeh said. “The vehicle carried the Eagle Mark which was usually attached to Saddam’s cars,” he added.
