Jordanian comprehensive change in military leadership, nine detainees of Maan incidents released
Jordan, Politics, 3/8/2002

Jordanian governmental sources said on Thursday that the Jordanian King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz appointed his younger brother prince Faisal as a commander of the Jordanian Royal force within comprehensive changes in the higher leadership of the military establishment, while the Jordanian state's court decided to release nine persons were arrested in the context of the acts of riots that took place in Maan to the south of Jordan, following the death of a youngster in vague conditions just one and a half months ago.

Jordanian officials said that prince Faisal who has the grade of a Lt. Gen. Pilot in the Jordanian force assumed his work as from March 4 and he is currently in the US seeking means to develop defense means for the Kingdom. The sources added that since a while prince Faial has been prepared to assume the leadership of the Jordanian air force.

Last Monday the Jordanian King released a decree provided for appointing Maj. Gen. Khaled Jamil al-Saraeyra as a chairman for the joint chief of staff department, retiring Lt. Gen. Muhammad Youssef Malakawi, together with other nine of the joint chief of staff department officers and this measure was in the framework of a plan for reform and improvement the king personally supervises.

The Jordanian king, however, was a military man before he assumed the monarchy in Jordan in succession of his late father King Abdullah who died in 1999.

Foreign military estimates say that the size of the Jordanian army is estimated at 100,000 troops and the air force at 41,000.

Meantime, the Jordanian papers said on Thursday that the state security court decided on Wednesday to release nine persons who were arrested in the context of the acts of riots took place in Maan.

The court last Thursday decided to release 11 detainees among the prisoners after it was found out that enough evidence was not provided for their imprisonment over their involvement in the acts of riots took place in the city on January 21 and 22.

Jordanian legal sources said that other 22 persons were arrested on the background of these incidents and they are still under arrest with most of them activist Islamists.

Maan, however, is considered among the poorest cities in the Kingdom and has a huge majority of activist Islamists.

Previous Stories:
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  Al-Assad meets prime minister Abu al-Ragheb   (3/5/2002)
  Investigations of the acts of riots in Maan   (1/23/2002)
  Foreign correspondents in Jordan to observe a strike over 'security harassment'   (12/22/2001)
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