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Adios Dr Rifai!
The Star
6 January 2003
It's been an exciting tour of duty for the departing minister. I don't know which post will people remember him for, but now that he had landed a UN job, I don't think Dr Rifai really cares!
The government of Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb is about to undergo what can best be described as a "technical" reshuffle necessitated by the resignation of Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Dr Taleb Rifai and the creation of a new ministry of environment. Dr Rifai will be joining the UN's International Labor Organization (ILO) as head of its regional office in Beirut. The 53-year-old engineer-turned-politician has held three separate ministerial portfolios since May 2000 namely planning, information and tourism. Before that Dr Rifai became General Director of the Jordan Cement Factories Co. and headed the Investment Promotion Corp between 1995 and 1997. In the early 1990s Dr Rifai was economic secretary at the Jordanian embassy in Washington and much earlier he had taught architecture at the University of Jordan's College of Engineering. Journalists will best remember Dr Rifai for his primary role in charting the law of the first Higher Media Council (2001-2002) when he was extremely optimistic about the prospects of the new media body which was designed to replace the Ministry of Information. But that is water under the bridge now. Dr Rifai was not comfortable at the helm of the Ministry of Information, although he did make a good government spokesman at the Arab summit which was held in Amman in Mach 2001, and was handed the tourism portfolio last year. But his ambition to leave his mark on that crucial sector of the economy did not materialize. Tourism has suffered badly in 2002 and the sector is ailing. It's been an exciting tour of duty for the departing minister. I don't know which post will people remember him for, but now that he had landed a UN job, I don't think Dr Rifai really cares!
Armouti's brinkmanship
Saleh Armouti, head of the Lawyers Association, is calling for a popular tribunal to put President George Bush on trial for his crimes against Iraq and the Palestinians. No end to Armouti's surprises which have become a pain in the back of the government. The idea is not new since many similar calls were made in the past few years to try US and other officials for alleged crimes against the Arab people. Is this a waste of time or what? In the tug of war between the Professional Associations (PAs) and the government such calls are designed to irritate more than anything else. With both parties resorting to brinkmanship to make a point, it is obvious that the government has the upper hand. The difference, of course, is that the government can put its money where its mouth is.
Hijazi sentenced again
The State Security Court has upheld its earlier decision to put American born Raed Hijazi to death overturning a Court of Cassations ruling that found that there was not enough evidence to convict the 34-year-old of manufacturing explosives. The dual national Hijazi can still appeal the death verdict and is expected to do so. Hijazi's trial has attracted attention both here and abroad. He is accused to conspiring to blow up Jordanian tourist sites frequented by Americans and Israelis during the millennium celebrations. Hijazi denies the charges and has maintained that his earlier confessions were extracted from him under pressure. During his trial Hijazi's lawyers had asked for the testimony of a senior US embassy official, but he never showed up. Although a direct connection with Al Qaida was never established, Hijzai is believed to have been in touch with another Jordanian, Abu Misab Al Zarqawi, who is now believed to be a senior lieutenant of Osama Ben Laden and who recent press reports claim is hiding in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Comparing notes
Turkish Prime Minister Abdallah Gul has visited Jordan as part of an Arab tour that included Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Gul's public message is loud and clear: To work with the countries of the region to avert an American war against Iraq. But that could not have been the only angle that the Turkish premier and Arab officials had covered. Turkey is an important player in the planned US invasion of Iraq and its tanks have already crossed the northern Iraqi border into Kurdistan to keep the peace and prevent a spillover of refugees or an independent Kurdish state rising in the midst of chaos. Moreover, Turkish bases will be a major launching pad for US and British aircraft heading to Iraq. With the prospects of war far outbalancing those of a peaceful conclusion of the crisis, Gul must have touched on issues relating to Turkey's involvement and Arab position on US requests that other regional bases be open to US combat troops. Comparing notes few weeks to a possible outbreak in hostilities is probably what Gul and his opposite numbers have spent most of the time discussing.
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