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AMMAN — With the intention of drawing the world’s attention to children living in war, five Ukrainian photographers on Monday exhibited their work from the Donbass war, depicting the physical and psychological state of children on the frontlines.

The “Children in War” photo exhibition, held by the Ukrainian embassy in cooperation with the Cote d’Ivoire embassy at Broadway Gallery, displayed 25 photographs of children who have experienced war firsthand, to show the dangers of war beyond the physical world, organisers said.

Ukrainian photographer and vice president of the Volunteer Help International Foundation, Olena Prokopenko, said the most interesting part of working on the project was capturing the images of children who were “not posing”.

“The most difficult part was the conditions we worked [in], filming and [taking] pictures was... 1km or 2km from the frontline under the shelling,” she told The Jordan Times.

“Photographers were living under the constant threat of being shelled… We were also unofficial photographers, so we were [not] protected with any signs… We were risking a lot,” Prokopenko added.

The artist said the photographers involved in the project “rethought their lives after the experience”.

“We understood that our daily problems are incomparable with the problems those kids are experiencing in their everyday lives,” she added.

Yevgen Rokicki, president of the International Charity Fund and the Baltic-Black Sea Security Confederation, said the tragedy of children who experience war is depicted in the exhibition.

“The idea of the exhibition... appeared a-year-and-a-half ago, once our foundation started supporting children who were on the frontline area of war. Over the last two years, we have refurbished three schools that were demolished during the war,” Rokicki added.

“The tragedy of children depicted in the photo exhibition is because they are residing in the suburbs of big cities Luhansk and Donetsk, they are either from families with either father or mother, or both parents missing,” he said.

The confederation president noted that the children captured in some photos might even have psychological problems as post-war traumas.

“Those two big cities were captured by the Russians and… have no access to medical institutions, no possibility to go to hospitals; they can only go 300km from their home village to other regional centres, that is why we wanted to attract attention to the tragedies of children who suffer from the war,” Rokicki explained.

He added that medical and psychological support is also offered to children who require it, while “those talented people who… sing, paint, or dance” are brought to the capital so that they can demonstrate their talents and be exposed to TV channels and other institutions.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday hosted an iftar banquet in Al Hussein Youth City on Sunday attended by HRH Crown Prince Hussein, according to a Royal Court statement.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, Senate President Abdur-Ra’uf S. Rawabdeh, Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh, Judicial Council President Hisham Tal, former prime ministers, senior officials and officers as well as Royal Family members, clerics, MPs and members of diplomatic missions in the Kingdom attended the iftar.

The King and Crown Prince performed maghrib prayer with the attendees.

AMMAN — The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) on Wednesday called on municipalities with buildings that violate the National Construction Law to rectify their situation.

JEA President Majid Tabba said the law requires pre-construction building designs issued from a JEA-certified engineering firm, as well as the association’s accreditation.

 However, “a few” municipalities issue building licences without consulting certified engineering offices, a matter Tabba described as “illegal and unsafe” with potential defects in construction.

The phenomenon decreased after the JEA signed an agreement with municipalities in June 2014 to put an end to these violations, but some municipalities are still violating the law, he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

“Some are not aware of the importance of obtaining proper building designs, as violations often transgress construction standards as well as the allowed dimensions for buildings,” he said, adding that some violations involve buildings encroaching on streets. 

Contractors and housing developers tend to consult uncertified engineering firms to save money, especially since they receive “reduced fines” when they issue permits for already established buildings, according to Tabba.

“In fact it is cheaper to follow the law in consulting professional and competent engineers and obtaining an official permit, as it saves developers the burden of expensive defects that could result from unprofessional assessments,” he said.

“This is not the place to save money,” the JEA president stressed, explaining that violating construction standards jeopardises the safety and quality of a building, especially the ability to add floors or incorporate electromechanic facilities.

AMMAN — The interests of the country and citizens represent the ultimate goal the Interior Ministry and its security and executive institutions seek to achieve under all circumstances, Interior Minister Salameh Hammad said Wednesday. 

At a meeting with heads of security services, Hammad, who was sworn in before His Majesty King Abdullah on the same day, said that unifying efforts and coordinating among security institutions will help overcome security challenges the Kingdom is facing, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Civil Defence Department Director General Lt. Gen. Talal Kofahi, and acting directors of the Public Security Department (PSD) and the Gendarmerie Department, Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Abu Jumaa and Brig. Gen. Atef Hajaya, attended the meeting. 

The newly appointed minister also commended the high level of proficiency of security personnel and their ability to deal with security challenges.

Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh and Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour attended Hammad’s swearing in ceremony at Al Husseiniya Palace, according to Petra.

Hammad was appointed as interior minister on Tuesday, replacing Hussein Majali, a former PSD director, who resigned on Sunday. 

Police and Gendarmerie chiefs, Gen. Tawfiq Tawalbeh and Maj. Gen. Ahmad Sweilmin were also referred to retirement the same day.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said in a statement that the minister’s resignation was a result of “the lack of coordination among security organisations that include the public security and the Gendarmerie departments”.

The new minister, Hammad, is known for administering the landmark 1989 parliamentary elections when he was secretary general of the Interior Ministry.

Born in Amman in 1944, he served as interior minister from 1993-1995 and 1995-1996.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Baghdad University and two higher diplomas in public administration from France. 

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an August 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over three years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Zarqa in April 2022.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal narcotics (hashish) with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent on April 19.

The SSC handed the defendant five years in prison for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD5,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the fine to JD3,500 and the prison term to three years and four months in prison to give the defendant a second chance in life.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learned the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and sent one of its agents to pose as a buyer.

“The AND agent got in touch with the defendant and asked him for a small stash of illegal drugs in return for JD26,” court documents said.

When the defendant headed to the designated place to deliver the illegal drugs he saw AND agents closing in on him so he “dumped the narcotics in the street and ran”.

“The defendant was immediately arrested and upon searching him, officers found three Captagon on him,” court papers added.

Upon searching the defendant, court papers said, AND personnel found a small quantity of illegal narcotics on him". 

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “did not provide solid evidence to implicate his client”.

The lawyer also argued that his client suffered from mental illness “and should have been referred to psychiatric evaluation but the court refused the request”, according to court documents.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the sentence and the fine imposed on the defendant.

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper procedures in issuing the sentence against the defendant.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges were Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Mohammad Khashashneh, Qassem Dughmi and Hammad Ghzawi.

AMMAN — The Kingdom's oil bill increased by 4.9 per cent in the January-February period compared with the same period in 2023, the Department of Statistics (DoS) said on Thursday.  According to a DoS report on foreign trade, the total value of the oil bill rose to JD510 million in the initial two months of 2024, marking an increase from JD486 million during the corresponding period of 2023. Mineral fuels and other mineral oils topped the list of Jordan's oil imports at JD162 million, the Jordan News Agency, reported.  The Kingdom's crude oil imports amounted to JD162 million, followed by gasoline at JD78 million, diesel at JD99 million, lubricants at JD5 million, and kerosene at JD4 million, according to DoS figures.

AMMAN — Customs personnel at the Aqaba Customs Centre have thwarted an attempt to smuggle 700,000 pills of nutritional supplements, which were concealed within a container destined for illicit transportation under bad and unhealthy conditions. The Jordan Customs Department (JCD) said that its personnel in Aqaba seized the entire shipment of pills and handed them to the relevant authorities for further investigation and legal proceedings, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. JCD reiterated its unwavering commitment to safeguarding public health by preventing the entry of any hazardous or counterfeit substances that bypass the regulatory protocols mandated by competent authorities.

AMMAN —  The European Union Delegation to Jordan and the Centre for Strategic Studies of the University of Jordan hosted together a “Road to Schuman” Conference, according to a statement for The Jordan Times. 

This conference, entitled “The European Union and its Southern Neighbourhood: A Strategic Dialogue on Defence, Maritime Security, and Transnational Crime” brought together one hundred security and defence experts and practitioners, members of Parliament, diplomats, armed forces and security services. 

Zaid Eyadat, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, said that the current events have far-reaching impacts on the politics of the region. “Though the humanitarian impact is a non-ignorable factor in the conflict, we must also consider the war’s impact on regional geopolitics. The current war in Gaza holds the potential to destabilise the Middle East, and it must be resolved as soon as possible…”

In his opening remarks, Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, ambassador of the European Union to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, said: “With the return of power politics on European soil, but also in the Middle East and beyond, the threats to international peace and security are evolving. We see brutal and open wars of various intensities surrounding us, but also the rise of hybrid warfare and the weaponisation of all human activities. We have to forge strong partnerships with our Allies and we came to Amman to discuss about that today.” 

The first panel discussion included Karim Haggag, director for Global Affairs of the American University of Cairo, EU Ambassador Hugues Mingarelli and Hanna Shelest from the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”. Participants and experts discussed the evolving EU security and defence agenda, and the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the relations between the EU and its southern partners, according to the statement.

The second panel discussion was focused on maritime Security and special attention was given to the Red Sea and the new EU maritime operation ASPIDES, with interventions by Abdel Monem Said from the Egyptian Senate, and EU Ambassador Patrick Simonnet. 

A third panel allowed Mohammed Farghal, former director general of the King Abdullah II Centre for Design and Development, Hasan Momani, dean of the Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II School of Political Science and International Studies of the University of Jordan, and Brigadier General Riad Jariri from the General Intelligence Directorate to discuss border security challenges and the fight against transnational crime in the Middle East.

The “Road to Schuman” conference, which concluded with remarks by EU Ambassador Patrick Simonnet and Jawad Anani, former foreign minister of Jordan, is part of a series of events to discuss partners’ security concerns, listen to their views and identify future avenues for cooperation, in preparation for the Schuman Security and Defence Forum, the statement said. 

The second edition of the Schuman Security and Defence Forum will take place in Brussels on 28-29 May 2024. 

It will bring together high-level representatives of the European Union, EU Member states and partner countries, international and regional organisations, as well as leading think-tanks and academia. 

The Forum aims at shedding light on how ongoing and potential peace, security and defence partnerships can respond to the most pressing common security threats and challenges and contribute to global peace and security as well as uphold the international rules-based order and multilateralism.