THEIR FIGHT NOW:

Jordan calls for jihad on terrorism (Suleiman al-Khalidi, November 13, 2005, REUTERS)

King Abdullah II called for a global fight against terrorism yesterday as Jordan acknowledged for the first time that al Qaeda in Iraq used foreign suicide bombers to attack Amman hotels, killing 57. [...]

"Terrorism is a sick and cross-border phenomenon. Therefore, eradicating it is the whole world's responsibility," he told the state-run Petra news agency. "The body parts we saw in Amman we see every day in brotherly Iraq and have also seen in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and other countries around the world."

King Abdullah later told CNN that four suicide bombers carried out Wednesday's attacks, suggesting one was the "spouse" of another militant. His remarks seemed to confirm al Qaeda's claim that a husband and wife were among the bombers.

"I think that to walk into the lobby of a hotel to see a wedding procession and to take your wife or your spouse with you into that wedding and to blow yourself up [showed] these people are insane," King Abdullah said.

Welcome to the war, Reverend Niemöller.

MORE:
Rice makes surprise Jordan trip (Harry de Quetteville, 13/11/2005, Daily Telegraph)

Condoleezza Rice, the United States secretary of state, is to make an unscheduled visit to Jordan tomorrow, in a highly visible show of support for one of America's leading Arab allies after last week's terrorist bombings in Amman. [...]

Israel's Mossad has long been considered the best organised and most co-operative spy agency allied to the US in the region.

But in recent months Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate (GID), has proved itself the most valuable covert partner by thwarting terrorist attacks, capturing and interrogating terrorist suspects and giving CIA officers extensive access to its headquarters.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 13, 2005 8:33 AM