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AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, HRH Prince Ghazi, His Majesty’s Chief Adviser for Religious and Cultural Affairs and personal envoy, on Monday opened the 18th General Conference of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. 

In his opening address, Prince Ghazi, who is chairman of the institute’s board of trustees, paid tribute to the “colleagues who passed away since the previous conference in 2016” and welcomed new members of the institute by name, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

During the inauguration, the prince announced the first award on Islamic thought will be won by the best researcher on the topic in English or Arabic, noting that the application deadline for the prize is January 1, 2020. 

At the inauguration, Prince Ghazi presented the winner, Mohammed Othman from Pakistan, with the King Abdullah I Bin Al Hussein International Award.

The three-day event, held every three years, will bring together 70 scholars from 30 Arab and foreign countries to discuss 31 research papers.   

The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought was established in 1980 and comprises 120 members who are senior scholars from 36 countries. 

AMMAN — The Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) advised merchants in downtown Amman to get insurance that covers natural disasters like floods, fires and earthquakes for their shops, in a bulletin distributed on Monday.

The ACC circulated its “guidance and awareness” instructions to traders in lieu of the upcoming winter season, with the aim of preserving lives and properties and avoiding accidents that may result in financial losses.

ACC President Khalil Hajj Tawfiq said that the chamber prepared the instructions after considering the flash floods last winter that damaged some shops in downtown Amman, where the chamber found some missing public safety measures, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.   

In mid-August, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) and the ACC pledged to reimburse the traders with a total of JD3 million, JD2 million of which would be supplied by GAM, and the remaining amount by the ACC.

In March, heavy rain flooded downtown Amman and caused “extensive damage”, prompting citizens to express their frustration over the country’s “poor” infrastructure.

At the time of the incident, GAM said that “unprecedented” rainfall had led to soil erosion in the capital’s Jabal Al Joufeh area and manhole closures in Quraish Street in downtown Amman.

In its instructions, the ACC called on traders not to store their merchandise in warehouses whose levels are below the level of streets and to avoid storing large amounts of goods in basements. 

The chamber also urged downtown Amman traders to raise the level of the doorsteps to their shops to guarantee that water would not enter their property, according to Petra.

AMMAN — High taxation has led to the rise of unregistered work, according to a recent study by the Quds Centre for Political Studies.

Unregistered work accounts for 25 per cent of the Kingdom’s GDP, stated the centre.

Whether in tourism, construction or agriculture, unregistered work “depends on the labour of unregistered foreign workers or citizens who are willing to take the risk in exchange for a source of income”, according to Mahmoud Sarayrah, an inspector in the Public Security Department’s anti-random work department.

“When caught and asked if they knew their workplace or work procedures were illegal and unregistered, most reply with ‘yes, but we have been unemployed for a long time’,” he told The Jordan Times in a recent phone interview.

According to the study, almost 39 per cent of the sample “chose to partake in unregistered work because of strained financial situations”. Unregistered Jordanian workers made up 18 per cent of the workforce, while 50 per cent of foreign workers were unregistered.

The “high registration fees, taxes and foreign labour licences” were the main factors that led employers to keep their businesses unregistered, it stated.

“I am fully aware of the consequences of operating an unregistered commercial complex. However, I only lost my shop licences because I couldn’t keep up with ridiculously high taxes,” said a shopping complex owner, who preferred to remain anonymous.

He added: “I will have a huge problem to deal with if I ever want to sell the complex, because the accumulated taxes might be hundreds of thousands. I can deal with that problem later. For now, I have kids to feed.”

AMMAN — Despite being one of the best-preserved crusader castles in Jordan and the Near East, Karak Castle is “certainly one of the least studied”, said an Italian archaeologist.

“The historical importance of this site, especially in the 12th-14th centuries, is evident. It was built in 1142 by Payen le Bouteiller, a French nobleman, crusader and lord of Outrejourdan until 1148,” Lorenzo Fragai told The Jordan Times in a recent e-mail interview. 

He added it was conquered by Saladin and the Ayyubids in 1188 and subsequently passed into the hands of the Mamluks in 1260.

During seven centuries of Islamic rule, Karak Castle was converted from a purely military outpost to a proper fortified residence, Fragai elaborated,  stressing that  it served various functions such as an arsenal, a "strong-box" for the sultan’s treasure, a prison and, for a brief period in the 14th century, the capital building for an entire empire. 

“As far as the crusader phase is concerned, more in-depth investigations of the still-extant buildings inside the castle will be absolutely necessary in the future,” Fragai said.

More advanced, although still quantitatively limited to some portions of the fortress, are the investigations of the Ayyubid and Mamluk phases that Fragai conducted during and after his PhD at the Sapienza University of Rome and as a member of the University of Florence’s archaeological mission in Jordan. 

“Karak Castle is a ‘jewel’ in this region; a perfect summary of the military and architectural genius of the Crusaders, the Ayyubids and the Mamluks,” Fragai said.

Directed by Professor Guido Vannini, the University of Florence’s archaeological mission in Jordan has been working for over 30 years on crusader sites in this region, Fragai said.

“The mission’s objectives have included performing a stratigraphic excavation in the southern portion of the castle near the palatine complex of An Nasir Dawud, Ayyubid prince of Karak (1229-1249),” the archaelogist said. 

Future investigations in Karak will cover three areas of research: Stratigraphic excavations, stratigraphic readings of the buildings and architectural surveys, he continued.

“Most of the surveys will concern the Ayyubid and Mamluk phases, whilst including the crusader one, albeit to a lesser degree,” Fragai noted, adding that human and economic efforts to redesign and expand such a large castle must have absorbed a vast amount of resources and energy. 

“However, we currently understand only a small part of it. Evidence of these interventions must therefore be recognised and interpreted so as to clarify the site’s evolution over the centuries,” Fragai concluded.

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February State Security Court (SSC) ruling that sentenced two cousins to four years in prison each for spreading terrorist ideologies in the Kingdom.

The SSC declared the two defendants guilty of spreading Daesh terror group videos and material using their cell phones and computers, and handed them the maximum punishment.

The same court declared the two defendants innocent of plotting subversive acts in Jordan due to lack of evidence.

Court papers said the defendants adopted a takfiri perspective and when Daesh surfaced, they adopted its ideology.

"The two cousins used all technological means available to spread material that Daesh was broadcasting in order to gain more sympathisers for the terrorist group," court documents said.

Later on, the defendants sought out a university at which to spread their ideology, court papers said. 

The two were arrested in July 2017 after the campus security became suspicious of their presence and alerted the authorities.

While in custody at a police station, court documents added, “the defendants spoke to a man who was arrested on a different charge and attempted to convince him to adopt the Daesh terror group’s ideology”.

“The defendants also asked the man who was with them about how to erase material that was related to Daesh on their mobile phones that were seized by the police,” court transcripts said.

The man immediately alerted police about the conversation with the men and they were sent to the SSC prosecution office for further questioning, court papers added.

The defendants contested the verdict through their lawyers, asking to be declared innocent because “they did not commit any acts that were in violation of the law”.

“The court relied on weak evidence and failed to provide any solid evidence that would implicate our clients,” the defence argued.

Meanwhile, the SSC’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the prison terms given to the defendants.

The higher court dismissed the defence claims and ruled that the SSC proceedings were accurate and the defendants were given the appropriate punishment.

“The two defendants owned electronic devices that contained material related to the Daesh terror group, including their activities, videos and lists of people they planned to target in Jordan,” the higher court stated.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Bassem Mubeidin, Yassin Abdullat and Naji Zu’bi.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday attended the annual ceremony of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) at the King Hussein Business Park.

The ceremony featured a showcase of KAFD’s achievements and success stories involving young beneficiaries of the fund, which was established in 2001 to promote sustainable progress and elevate the socioeconomic status and prosperity in Jordan, according to a Royal Court statement.

During the ceremony, attended by KAFD Chairman Alaa Bataineh, King Abdullah presented the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement to Laith Abu-Taleb for his paper art project Waragami.

A total of 1,362 young Arabs from 16 countries applied to the award this year, 10 of whom were shortlisted for the final stage of the competition, the statement said.

Waragami is the first project in the Middle East to specialise in the paper art of Origami and Quilling, aimed at developing creativity, patience and motor skills among its practitioners, as well as assisting in the rehabilitation process of people with disabilities.

Also during the ceremony, a number of youth beneficiaries of KAFD’s programmes highlighted their success stories and experiences, outlining the impact of the fund on their projects, the statement said.

The ceremony also included a celebration of the10th anniversary of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, as a success story in vocational education and a positive influence on the social perception of vocational training.

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi, Adviser to His Majesty for Communication and Coordination Bisher Al Khasawneh and Adviser to His Majesty for Policies and Media Kamal Al Nasser attended the ceremony.

AMMAN — Tunisians are now exempt from entry visas to visit the Kingdom, according to a Ministry of Interior announcement on Sunday.

Back in February, visa fees were waived for Tunisians entering the Kingdom.

In July of 2015, Tunisia decided to waive visa fees for Jordanians, citing “enhancing bilateral relations” as their reason. Later on, Tunisia exempted Jordanians from visas altogether.

“This is good for tourism, trade and education. Now, tourists, businessmen and students can travel freely between the two countries, therefore bringing in money for both countries,” Mohammed Husseini, a travel agent told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He added: “We have already seen more people willing to trade Turkey for Tunisia this summer, so I would say the Tunisian exemption for Jordanians worked.”

Cooperation between the two countries is “still below the desired levels”, said Tunisian Ambassador to Jordan Khalid Suhaili earlier this year at a press conference covered by The Jordan Times. He noted that “trade between the two countries can be boosted to reach $200 million annually”.

During his latest visit to Jordan, Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui called on Jordanian businesspeople to “benefit from the various advantages of accessing new markets through Tunisia”, according to a Royal Court statement.

Spokesperson for Jordan’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Supply Yanal Barmawi told The Jordan Times over the phone that he hopes “Jordanian businesspeople will take this as an invitation to explore what Tunisia has to offer”.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Hussein, at Al Husseiniya Palace on Sunday, received a US congressional delegation headed by US House of Representatives member Jason Crow.

The meeting, attended by HRH Prince Feisal, focused on Jordanian-US cooperation and strategic partnership, in addition to the latest regional developments, according to a Royal Court statement.

King Abdullah expressed Jordan's appreciation for the support provided by the United States in development and defence, emphasising the important role of Congress in this regard, the statement said.

Discussing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, His Majesty stressed the need to step up international efforts to end the conflict based on the two-state solution, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The King also stressed the need to de-escalate and resolve regional crises through dialogue.

Discussing the Syrian crisis, His Majesty called for a political solution that preserves Syria's territorial integrity, the unity of its people, and the voluntary, safe return of refugees, underscoring the importance of maintaining stability, especially in southern Syria.

The meeting also covered regional and international efforts to counter terrorism within a holistic approach.

For their part, the US lawmakers highlighted the deep-rooted US-Jordan relations, commending Jordan’s role, under the leadership of His Majesty, in achieving peace and stability in the Middle East.

Adviser to His Majesty for Communication and Coordination Bisher Al Khasawneh and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti attended the meeting.

Also on Sunday, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi discussed with the US delegation regional developments, with a focus on the Palestinian cause and the challenges facing the two-state solution, the Syrian crisis and the war against terror.    

Safadi highlighted the deep Amman-Washington relations and expressed appreciation for the US’ support to the Kingdom, according to a ministry statement.

Members of the delegation lauded King Abdullah’s role and his efforts to achieve regional security and stability reiterating continued support to Jordan as a strategic partner to the US, according to the statement. 

AMMAN — Teachers and the government on Sunday signed the agreement under which teachers agreed to end their one-month strike after having their demand for an apology and rise in wages met.

As per the agreement, signed by Minister of Education and Higher Education and Scientific Research Walid Maani and Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) Vice President Nasser Nawasrah, first, second, third and fourth-rank teachers will receive 35 per cent, 40 per cent, 50 per cent and 65 per cent salary increases, respectively.

A new “lead teacher” rank was created under the agreement and will be granted a 75 per cent pay raise. 

The training academy affiliated with the JTA is also to be recognised among the institutions accredited by the ministry. 

The education social security fund bylaw will also be revisited under the agreement so as to allow the JTA to have a role in administrating the fund. 

The years of service for teachers' eligibility to apply for makruma (benefaction) were reduced to five instead of ten as per the agreement. 

The agreement also increases the allowances for teachers who monitor the Tawjihi (the general secondary education certificate examination) and correct exam papers, in addition to considering teaching as an “arduous profession”.

The deal allows teachers to receive treatment at military hospitals at the same cost as at public hospitals.

The weekly quota of classes shall be reduced to a maximum rate of 18 weekly classes for lead teachers, 20 for experienced teachers and 22 for first-rank teachers as per the agreement.

The agreement cancels all penalties and proceedings taken against teachers due to participation in the strike and drops all lawsuits the government was to file against any teacher or the JTA.

Both sides also agreed to grant teachers housing loans with preferential murabaha (Islamic interest) rates through tools supported by the Central Bank of Jordan. 

Maani said the agreement came in fulfillment of His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives, which stressed the need for dialogue to resolve the month-long crisis.

“The return of students to classrooms and the resumption of the educational process have been His Majesty’s greatest concern,” Maani added. 

In a statement on Sunday, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said the best interest of students “was placed above all considerations” in reaching the agreement with teachers.

In an interview with Jordan Television later in the day, JTA Spokesperson Nouriddin Nadim said that the agreement was “a victory” for the Kingdom and that “no one has lost”, adding that the best interest of students was the main outcome of the resolution.                                                                                            Nadim noted that the strike succeeded because “it maintained professionalism and was not politicised”, according to Petra.  

Following a meeting that extended until late hours Saturday, a government team and the JTA reached a deal to end the strike that started on September 8.

Nawasrah described the deal as “historic”, valuing the government’s efforts to end the “longest work stoppage in the Kingdom’s history”.

In a letter he sent on Saturday to the JTA on the occasion of World Teacher’s Day, Razzaz sent a letter to the JTA, commending teachers and their efforts.

In the letter the JTA received as an apology, Razzaz expressed the government’s regret for any act that might have affected teachers’ dignity, pledging to take action once results of the investigation and the National Centre for Human Rights’ report are out.

The JTA has requested an apology from the government for the way it handled the sit-in they staged in Amman on September 5, during which the syndicate claimed its members were subject to violations.

The Public Security Department denied the allegations, but confirmed that 50 teachers were detained during the protest for “illegally forcing their way through to the government’s headquarters on Amman’s Fourth Circle”, which was the location designated by the JTA for the protest.

AMMAN — Jordan imported a total of 204,000 barrels of Iraqi oil during September as per the deal the two countries inked in February, Energy Minister Hala Zawati said on Sunday.

Zawati said that there are no obstacles or pressure whatsoever hindering the implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) the two countries have signed under which Jordan would receive 10,000 barrels of Iraqi crude oil daily, according to a ministry statement. "Both sides are working hard to ensure efficient implementation of the memo."

Under the MoU signed in February, Jordan would receive 10,000 barrels of Iraqi crude oil daily with a discount of $16 from the price of Brent Crude per barrel to cover the difference of transport costs and deviations in standards.

Touching on the impact of the unrest sweeping Iraq on oil shipments, the minister said that oil deliveries continued during the first two days of this month but were suspended for two days due to the current situation in Iraq. 

She added that oil shipments are back to normal now and that the last delivery was received on Saturday, according to the statement.  

As per the MoU, Iraqi oil covering 7 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily needs of oil would be exported from Baiji in Iraq to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company.

Burj Al Hayat Transport and Trading Co. won the oil shipping tender earlier in May, and has since obtained 600 visas for drivers from both countries (300 Jordanians and 300 Iraqis), and will apply for more in the future.

The tender for transporting the crude oil was floated by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in March in implementation of the MoU.