Moral dilemma

No matter how the kidnapping of the Jordanian Ambassador in Libya Fawaz Aitan is dealt with, there are certain policy issues on hostage taking of Jordanian diplomats that will have to be examined.

There is every reason to believe that there could be a repeat of such act, of taking hostage our diplomats, be they ambassadors or junior staff at our diplomatic missions, especially in countries where law and order have yet to be observed.

Jordanian diplomats were attacked and even killed in the past, and the government cannot exclude the possibility that some may not be, once again, target of similar attacks by terrorists wanting to intimidate Jordan or force it to do something against its laws.

There is urgent need to bolster the security of our embassies and their staff, to introduce new and effective measures to protect them from potential terrorist attacks.

What comes to mind is not necessarily the deployment of security personnel at our embassies abroad, which could be very expensive in the long run, but rather the training of all of our diplomats in basic security procedures, including the use of firearms.

Instructions not to use the same routes to and from embassies, changing office hours, etc., could be some of the basic instructions introduced to embassy staff immediately.

This time, the kidnappers wanted the release of a Libyan terrorist found guilty of planning an attack at Queen Alia International Airport in 2004.

If the government frees the Libyan terrorist in order to save the life of the ambassador, it could invite similar acts in the future.

Not doing anything, on the other hand, could put the life of the ambassador at risk. His life is no doubt the highest priority.

If at the end of the day the choice is between saving the life of the ambassador and freeing a terrorist, I would go for saving the life of the ambassador.

This dilemma has been faced by many governments in the past and will be faced in the future.

There can be no absolute rule on how to deal with all such challenges. Each case must be dealt with and treated on individually.

The main thing now is to draw the necessary lessons and conclusions and prepare for all future eventualities.

One step must be taken the soonest: Beefing up security at embassy in countries that are unstable.