Two different stories...
At about 8pm last night my phone bleeped into life with an arabic text message from a friend of mine...given that my reading of Arabic is very limited..I replied asking for the 'English' version....
Test messaging in Jordan is probably at about the same level as the Philippines...Jordanians text all the time...I am surprised that more Jordanians don't suffer from repetitive strain injuries in their thumbs! That's how the rumours and news spreads so quickly around the city....texting is much swifter than a phone call..
This particular message..."The British Embassy in Amman is closing indefinitely due to a terrorist threat" - report from the BBC
The British embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman, has been closed until further notice due to security fears.
Plans for attacks against western visitors to the country are thought to be in the "final stages", according to the Foreign Office.
The Foreign Office travel advice summary reads: "Terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks against Westerners and places frequented by Westerners.
"The British Embassy in Amman will be closed until further notice due to the security situation."
It goes on: "There have been a number of successful and attempted terrorist attacks in Jordan since 2001."
Extra care should be taken "when using Jordanian service taxis to cross into neighbouring countries" and, in particular, "at the borders with Israel and Iraq"..*
However, a Jordanian government spokesperson disagrees with the British assessment (link to Jordan Times article - link won't last past the week)
Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh on Saturday described the current security threat against the British embassy in Amman as not sufficient to warrant its indefinite closure.
"Usually when there is a threat to a diplomatic mission in Jordan, the authorities liase with the concerned authorities through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consequently the security authorities make a threat assessment," Judeh told The Jordan Times.
"In this case the security authorities concluded that the threat itself did not warrant the closure" he added.
With the Eid holiday coming at the end of the week the Embassy would have been shut for most of the week anyway, it will be interesting to see when the British decide to reopen the embassy. To the best of my knowledge the embassy has not been closed recently - except for when they all (understandably I guess) left during the Iraq war...(it's an interesting feeling knowing that you are in a country with no embassy support!!).
I have three thoughts on this..first, I would rather they were safe than sorry....secondly, I really, really hope that nothing does happen...thirdly, given Al-Zaqarwi's low opinion poll ratings in Jordan at present (see previous post)..if he does try something else...he is even more of an idiot than we all think he is anyway...
*Yes, there really are taxi services across the various borders...if you go to Downtown in Amman, there are taxis that will take you to Jerusalem, Baghdad, Beirut and Damascus!!! All destinations that most people would think twice about aiming for!
Test messaging in Jordan is probably at about the same level as the Philippines...Jordanians text all the time...I am surprised that more Jordanians don't suffer from repetitive strain injuries in their thumbs! That's how the rumours and news spreads so quickly around the city....texting is much swifter than a phone call..
This particular message..."The British Embassy in Amman is closing indefinitely due to a terrorist threat" - report from the BBC
The British embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman, has been closed until further notice due to security fears.
Plans for attacks against western visitors to the country are thought to be in the "final stages", according to the Foreign Office.
The Foreign Office travel advice summary reads: "Terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks against Westerners and places frequented by Westerners.
"The British Embassy in Amman will be closed until further notice due to the security situation."
It goes on: "There have been a number of successful and attempted terrorist attacks in Jordan since 2001."
Extra care should be taken "when using Jordanian service taxis to cross into neighbouring countries" and, in particular, "at the borders with Israel and Iraq"..*
However, a Jordanian government spokesperson disagrees with the British assessment (link to Jordan Times article - link won't last past the week)
Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh on Saturday described the current security threat against the British embassy in Amman as not sufficient to warrant its indefinite closure.
"Usually when there is a threat to a diplomatic mission in Jordan, the authorities liase with the concerned authorities through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consequently the security authorities make a threat assessment," Judeh told The Jordan Times.
"In this case the security authorities concluded that the threat itself did not warrant the closure" he added.
With the Eid holiday coming at the end of the week the Embassy would have been shut for most of the week anyway, it will be interesting to see when the British decide to reopen the embassy. To the best of my knowledge the embassy has not been closed recently - except for when they all (understandably I guess) left during the Iraq war...(it's an interesting feeling knowing that you are in a country with no embassy support!!).
I have three thoughts on this..first, I would rather they were safe than sorry....secondly, I really, really hope that nothing does happen...thirdly, given Al-Zaqarwi's low opinion poll ratings in Jordan at present (see previous post)..if he does try something else...he is even more of an idiot than we all think he is anyway...
*Yes, there really are taxi services across the various borders...if you go to Downtown in Amman, there are taxis that will take you to Jerusalem, Baghdad, Beirut and Damascus!!! All destinations that most people would think twice about aiming for!
posted by Madame Chiang at 7:36 am
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