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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discussed the latest developments in the peace process in light of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

Stressing the importance of the time factor, the Monarch called for seizing the current opportunity and building on efforts exerted by US Secretary of State John Kerry to achieve tangible progress in the peace talks, according to a Royal Court statement.

He underlined the need for the negotiations to lead to the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 lines that lives side-by-side with Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The solution to the conflict, he reiterated, should come according to the international resolutions, the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and the two-state formula.

King Abdullah stressed that Jordan's higher interest, especially those related to the final-status issues are "on the top of our priorities", urging all stakeholders to work for a comprehensive and just peace by ensuring the right atmosphere that renders peace talks successful.

The King's meeting with Netanyahu comes after his recent talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Kerry as part as the ongoing consultations and coordination in efforts to achieve peace, the statement read. 

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Wednesday slammed the Syrian embassy in Amman for its insults against a Jordanian lawmaker who criticised Syrian President Bashar Assad under the Dome.

In its statement, the embassy carried out an “unprecedented” verbal attack on MP Abdullah Obeidat (Irbid, 5th District) in response to his strongly worded remarks against Assad during Lower House deliberations over the draft 2014 state budget, the speaker said.

Tarawneh demanded that the government investigate the embassy reaction and accordingly provide the MPs with feedback.

His request came at the beginning of the Lower House’s Wednesday session, in which he addressed the deputies and the government over the issue. 

He stressed that such behaviours by the Syrian embassy in Amman are not acceptable at all and that it “violate all diplomatic norms and protocols”, adding that the statement includes “implied threats”.

Obeidat exercised his constitutional right and expressed his own view about the Syrian crisis; his statements do not represent the Lower House’s stand, Tarawneh said.

“We have suffered from the Syrian crisis with the influx of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees into the country, the political stands of regional powers, and finally the repeated insults against anyone who expresses opinions that oppose the Syrian embassy’s point of view,” the speaker said.

Obeidat had opened his speech in Parliament on Monday with the statement “no peace for Assad”. 

He went on to say that the Syrian president’s life will be short.

Two days later, the press office in the Syrian embassy in Amman issued a statement criticising his remarks.

The embassy called Obeidat a “nobody” and an “idiot” who insulted the “symbol of the Syrian people”.

In June last year, Syrian Ambassador to Jordan Bahjat Suleiman attacked MP Bassam Manasir, describing him as a “servant of the enemies of Syria and Jordan” after the lawmaker had called for expelling the envoy over his “provocative attitude”.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said at the time that the Syrian ambassador had “violated all diplomatic norms” through his remarks and attitude, threatening to treat him as “persona non grata” should this attitude continue. 

AMMAN –– The Lower House on Wednesday endorsed the 2014 state budget draft law with a majority of 57 votes out of 102 lawmakers who attended the meeting.

The deliberations over the budget took three days, with 87 House members taking the podium to reflect on the statement, which features a deficit of JD1.1 billion.

 The size of the 2014 budget is estimated to reach JD8.096 billion, up by JD920 million over public expenditure re-estimated for 2013.

Public revenues before foreign assistance are estimated at JD5.831 billion, an 11.6 per cent increase compared with the JD5.226 billion in 2013.

Overall public revenues, including foreign grants, are estimated to reach JD6.982 billion.

Budget planners project assistance from donor countries to increase by JD169 million or 17.3 per cent this year, from JD982 million re-estimated for 2013, to amount to JD1.151 billion.

MPs also approved the draft law for the 2014 budget of independent government institutions, whose revenues are estimated to reach JD710 million, while the expenditures will stand at JD1.829 billion, with an expected deficit of JD1.19 billion. 

AMMAN — Jordan topped the world list of contributors to relief assistance to Syrians, exceeding its fair share with 12,720 per cent.

According to a study by Oxfam released Tuesday, “some states are more than delivering what would be considered their fair share for the humanitarian effort. Arab states, and in particular countries hosting Syrian refugees, are leading the way with Jordan [12,720 per cent], Lebanon [5,617 per cent], Kuwait [1,444 per cent], Saudi Arabia [324 per cent], and Iraq [450 per cent]”.

Turkey is exceeding its fair share by 930 per cent, while Denmark has so far met 379 per cent of its obligations, Norway (380 per cent) and the UK (298 per cent).

But nearly two-thirds of states, some of the richest countries in the world and members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, are giving less than what is expected given the size of their economies, Oxfam noted.

The analysis shows that Russia is falling far short of expectations having committed just 5 per cent of what would be considered its fair share. Japan is also lagging behind, having committed just 31 per cent. South Korea has pledged just 5 per cent.

France (77 per cent) has also been a relatively generous donor but needs to do more to support the revised appeal. The United States (88 per cent), the largest donor to UN appeals, has shown significant leadership but can do more to give its fair share.

Addressing a government meeting Tuesday in Kuwait, Oxfam said in a statement that while a much needed and lasting political solution is being sought through the Geneva peace talks, donor states must also prioritise funding the UN’s appeals for $6.5b, to ensure that Syrians receive the immediate humanitarian assistance they desperately need.

“Governments pledging funds in Kuwait must also focus on measures that will improve the humanitarian situation and ensure conditions are created to give peace talks the best possible chance of succeeding,” the statement added.

Gareth Price Jones, who heads up Oxfam’s response inside Syria and is attending the conference in Kuwait, said: “The Kuwait conference comes at a critical moment; the conflict continues to rage and we can expect the humanitarian needs for Syrians to continue to grow this year, possibly beyond. Donor countries cannot rest on their laurels. There is still a long way to go.”

Oxfam’s research calculates the amount of aid that should be given according to a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) and its overall wealth. The organisation last calculated the fair share analysis in September 2013. 

AMMAN –– The international community on Wednesday pledged over $2.5 billion in aid to Syrian refugees to ease the growing burden the humanitarian crisis is placing on host countries such as Jordan.

At the closing of the second annual Syrian refugee donors’ conference late Wednesday, the UN announced it had secured pledges for $2.5 billion in funds to provide urgent humanitarian aid to a forecast four million Syrians driven from their homes and over six million internally displaced this year.

Despite surpassing the $1.5 billion raised by donor countries and international charitable organisations last year, the sum represents less than half the record $6.5 billion sought by the UN for the aggravating humanitarian crisis, which has driven over 2.4 million Syrians into neighbouring countries since March 2011.

As of January, the UN has secured 70 per cent of the $1.5 billion pledged in the 2013 conference, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Meanwhile, Jordanian officials hailed the international response, urging the global community to step up support to host countries which are feeling an increasing strain on their education, health, water and energy sectors due to the growing influx of thousands of refugees per day.

According to Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation officials present at the conference, some $1 billion of the pledged funds are expected to be earmarked for Jordan to help offset the $3.2 billion the presence of over 600,000 Syrian refugees is expected to cost the government this year.

In a press statement issued late Tuesday, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ibrahim Saif expected Amman to have secured $1.5 billion in international aid should the UN have reached its target goal.

The secured funds are expected to go towards direct and indirect support to help the country sustain its water, health and education sectors in order to cope with a refugee influx that stands at some 500 persons per day.

The pledges come as violence continues to intensify across Syria, with the UN reporting over 9.3 million civilians in need of “urgent humanitarian aid” — over half of whom are children.

The conference was attended by 70 countries and 24 international organisations.

In the opening of the one-day summit, Kuwait pledged $500 million for the Syrian refugee crisis, with the US and Saudi Arabia following with a pledges of $380 million and $250 million respectively.

EU countries promised a total of $753 million.

Jordan has opened its borders to over one million Syrians since the onset of the conflict, including over 600,000 classified as refugees.

Jordanian and UN officials have urged the international community to step up its support to host countries, warning that Syria’s neighbours may revisit their open-border policies in light of dwindling resources and the growing stresses placed by the burgeoning refugee populations.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday underlined the “deep” strategic ties between Jordan and Russia and the need to develop them at all levels, especially in the field of energy. 

At a meeting with head of the Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Energy (Rosatom), Sergei Kiriyenko, the King highlighted the Kingdom’s strategy to diversify energy resources, including the generation of electricity from nuclear energy.

For his part, Kiriyenko stressed his country’s commitment to enhancing cooperation with Jordan to best serve the interest of the two countries, according to a Royal Court statement. 

The Cabinet has selected Russian state-owned firm Rosatom as the preferred vendor to construct a nuclear plant that includes two reactors, each with 1,000-megawatt capacity by 2021.

Jordan and the company are working to conduct detailed studies on the plant and its economic and environment feasibility, in addition to construction and operational costs. 

Also on Monday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met with Kiriyenko and an accompanying delegation and discussed bilateral ties and the government’s energy plans, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.     

AMMAN — Jordan is scheduled to take part in the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference in Kuwait.

Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh will be heading the Kingdom’s delegation.

In his address at the January 18-20 conference, Tarawneh will emphasise Jordan’s support for the Palestinian people and their right to establish an independent state on Palestinian land with Jerusalem as its capital, in addition to the refugees’ right of return.

He will also highlight Jordan’s efforts to support the Middle East peace talks, and the Kingdom’s role as the custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem.

The conference will be dedicated to studying the issue of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and the “continued aggression” against its people and holy sites.

AMMAN — Interior Minister Hussein Majali on Wednesday commended Jordanian-Bahraini ties.

In remarks he made before leaving for Bahrain, he added that bilateral relations have advanced over the years to the status of a strategic partnership.

Majali said he will meet with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, adding that the visit aims to exchange views on issues of mutual concern, especially security cooperation.

AMMAN — A total of 4,411 violations have been recorded since the start of the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) winter session on December 28, Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat said on Wednesday.

During a tour to check on schools in several areas in Amman, he noted that the ministry is noticing more discipline in examination halls due to the strict measures.

AMMAN — A committee formed on Wednesday is looking into the reasons behind a two-hour blackout that affected the Kingdom’s northern region and parts of the capital on Tuesday.

The panel, formed by Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed, will present a report by Sunday detailing the causes of the power outage and providing recommendations to avoid the recurrence of the incident.

Hamed decided to form the committee at a meeting with representatives of the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO), the Electricity Regulator Commission and the Samra Electric Power Generating Company.

The duration of Tuesday’s power cuts ranged between 15 minutes and two hours, depending on the area.

Hamed urged NEPCO to enhance the national power grid in the central region, and to increase its coordination with the control centre to better manage emergencies.