Excerpts: Jordan does not fear ISIL. Israel not working for Iraqi Kurd

Excerpts: Jordan does not fear ISIL. Israel not working for Iraqi Kurd =

independence July 01, 2014

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 1 July =9214:=94Jordan does not fear ISIL =

militants =96interior Minister=94, by Khaled Neimat
SUBJECT: Jordan does not fear ISIL
FULL TEXT:AMMAN =97 A security buffer zone of around 400 kilometres separat=
es =

Jordan=92s border from the military operations in Iraq, an MP who attended =
a =

closed-door meeting with the government said on Monday.

Deputy Yihya Saud (Amman, 2nd District) quoted Interior Minister Hussein =

Majali as saying =93there are 400-500 kilometres next to our borders with I=
raq =

and inside Iraq, free from any military operations or the presence of =

members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL]=94.

Although several international media outlets have reported that Jordan face=
s =

immediate danger due to the instability in both Iraq and Syria, Majali =

reiterated that the Kingdom is capable of dealing with any attempt to targe=
t =

its borders from Iraq or Syria.

His meeting with MPs was held to discuss the impact of the ongoing crisis i=
n =

the neighbouring countries on the Kingdom=92s security and stability, and t=
he =

current security campaign in Maan, some 220km south of Amman.

=93We will not fear ISIL=92s militants and their pickup trucks,=94 Majali t=
old the =

deputies, according to Saud.

=93Our soldiers and security forces are capable of protecting our borders,=
=94 =

the minister stressed.

After the meeting, several MPs expressed their dissatisfaction with the =

information provided by the government.

=93The information provided to us was not new, it was all published =

previously,=94 MP Mustafa Shneikat (The People list), who attended the =

meeting, told The Jordan Times.

Another deputy who spoke on condition of anonymity agreed, saying the =

information did not include anything major.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who took part in the meeting, declined to =

talk to the press.

Majali also spoke about the security raids in Maan, noting that the =

operations in the southern city are meant to bring some outlaws to justice. =

=93It is a security matter,=94 he told the MPs, according to parliamentary =

sources.

In the latest incident in Maan, two Gendarmerie officers were shot and =

injured, one critically, by unidentified assailants late Sunday[29 June] =

night while they were on patrol, according to official sources.

Last week, one man was killed and five people were injured, including three =

gendarmes, in a security raid on a house in the city to detain a wanted =

suspect, who is still on the run.

Maan MPs said at the meeting that the incidents in the city are also relate=
d =

to =93social and economic matters, rather than being only about security=94=
, =

according to parliamentary sources who attended the gathering.

The number of outlaws in Maan has increased to 31 after the latest campaign=
, =

according to Majali, who briefed the press following the meeting.

=93We managed to arrest five out of the 19 [targeted] criminals, but now th=
ere =

are more people that should surrender to security forces,=94 the minister =

said.

At the end of the meeting, the MPs agreed to form a parliamentary committee =

that would initiate dialogue with Maan residents and leaders to bring the =

confrontation with security forces to an end.

Deputies said the committee will help government agencies restore order in =

the city. The members will head to Maan in the next few days to begin its =

mission, according to parliamentary sources.

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya 1 July =9214:=94Foreign Minister:Israel not working f=
or =

Iraqi Kurd independence=94, by Dan Williams,Reuters
SUBJECT: Israel not working for Iraqi Kurd independence

QUOTE:Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman described Iraqi Kurdish =

independence as a fait accompli on Monday[30 June] but said his country was =

taking no action to help the Kurds achieve formal statehood.=94

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman described Iraqi Kurdish =

independence as a fait accompli on Monday[30 June] but said his country was =

taking no action to help the Kurds achieve formal statehood.

The remarks appeared aimed at heading off potential confrontation with the =

United States, which wants to keep Iraq united, after Israeli Prime Ministe=
r =

Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for support for the emergence of a =

Kurdish state.

Netanyahu’s remarks drew no response from the autonomous Kurdish government =

in northern Iraq, which has seized on the country’s sectarian chaos to =

expand into oil-rich new territory but remains wary of declaring full =

independence.

Washington wants Iraq united – a message U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry =

relayed last week in a visit to Kurdish leaders whom he urged political =

accommodation with Baghdad.

“Iraq’s future depends on the people who live there and Israel has no =

interest in getting involved in order to advance this-or-that solution, nor =

to give advice,” Foreign Minister Lieberman said in Berlin, according to hi=
s =

spokesman.

Lieberman added that “the reality, as it now appears, is that an independen=
t =

Kurdish state already exists, de facto”.

The Kurds, who today number some 30 million in Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey=
, =

have maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with =

Israel since the 1960s. The Israelis see in the minority ethnic group a =

buffer against shared Arab foes.

“We should…support the Kurdish aspiration for independence,” Netanyahu =

said in his speech to a Tel Aviv security forum on Sunday, after outlining =

what he described as the collapse of Iraq amid spreading strife between Ara=
b =

Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims.

“Drawing fire”
The Kurds, Netanyahu added, “are a fighting people that has proved its =

political commitment, political moderation, and deserves political =

independence”.

Asked on Monday[30 June] if Israel was lobbying abroad for a Kurdish state, =

or if Israel had received word from the Kurds that they were planning to =

declare independence, an Israeli official close to Netanyahu told Reuters: =

“I don’t want to go beyond what the prime minister said.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Israel had no immediate comment on =

Netanyahu’s remarks.

AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel U.S. lobby, was not helping to promote =

prospective Kurdish statehood to the Obama administration, a Washington =

source said.

In what signalled a deepening of ties, Israel on June 20 took its first =

delivery of disputed oil from Iraqi Kurdistan’s new pipeline, which runs =

through NATO-power Turkey. The United States disapproves of such go-it-alon=
e =

Kurdish exports.

Alon Liel, a former Israeli envoy to Turkey, interviewed on Israel Radio, =

said the statements about Kurdish independence by leading politicians riske=
d =

harming the Kurds’ interests by “drawing Arab fire”.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Sue Lerner – Associate, IMRA =

________________________________________
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