Francs confers with Jordanian king; threats against normalization resistance committees
Jordan-USA, Politics, 10/17/2002

The commander of the central leadership of the US army Gen. Tommy Francs held discussions on Wednesday in Amman with the Jordanian King Muhammad II and with the Jordanian army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Khaled Jamil al-Sarayera, at a time when confrontation have been escalated between the Jordanian government and the vocational trade unions after three members of the trade union anti- normalization committees were arrested last week.

Confrontation escalated to the level that the Jordanian minister of information asked the government to desolve these committees on charges that they are not legal.

Francs talked with the Jordanian King and officials concentrated on "the conditions in the region in general, and fields of cooperation and issues of mutual concern between the armed forces in the two friendly countries," according to the Jordanian official news agency.

This visit, however, coincided with multilateral military maneuvers currently held in an unidentified location in southern Jordan in which American, Jordanian, Egyptian, and Kuwaiti forces are taking part under the name of (early victory). Francs also visited the international exhibition for military equipment which was opened last Monday in Amman with the participation of some 17 world countries.

On the other hand, and after arresting three members of the Jordanian Engineers Union on charge of distributing posters calling for resisting normalization with Israel, the Jordanian prime minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb asked the prime minister and the two ministers of information Muhammad al-Edwan and the interior Qaftan al-Majali to desolve the anti- normalization committees over being illegal, threatening to take further measures if the vocational trade unions will try to protest against this decision.

The Jordanian dailies issued on Wednesday quoted al-Edwan as saying following a meeting for the Jordanian Cabinet that "these committees should be desolved because they cause losses for the Jordanian economy at millions of Jordanian dinars, and are also damaging Jordanian party and political interests." Al-Edwan also defended the Jordanian companies which deal with Israel which were criticized by the anti- normalization committees, calling to boycotting them. He accused certain "trade unions" of "defaming national companies," stressing that these companies are "Jordanian, with a capital and a labor forces which are 100% Jordanian." On the other hand, the vocational trade Unions stressed that government's demands to desolve the anti- normalization committees is not constitutional. The chairman of the bar association in Jordan, Saleh al-Armouti, said that desolving these committees will never happen because the anti- normalization committees were formed according to rules of the vocational trade unions."

Previous Stories:
  Tommy Francs in Jordan   (10/16/2002)
  Three Jordanian trade unionists arrested over membership in anti- normalization society   (10/9/2002)
  Al-Dostour: Jordanian- Israeli contacts over detainees   (9/23/2002)
  American soldiers left Jordan following joint maneuvers   (9/9/2002)

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