Jordan rejects regional alliances as substitute for comprehensive security

Jordanian Minister of Information Nasser Judeh announced Jordan's refusal of alliances -- in reference to a strategic alliance between Jordan, Israel, and Turkey -- and called for a comprehensive security system for all countries in the region.

He also announced that the trial of a suspect in the El-Rabia and El-Shemisani massacres, due to which an Iraqi diplomat, his wife, a businessmen, a doctor, and a lawyer were killed will be held in the coming month.

Jordanian security bodies arrested four suspects in an operation last May, and investigations revealed that the motives for committing the killings were financial disputes about smuggling antiquities from Iraq.

The minister also denied in press statements that Mohammed Sadek Odeh, one of the suspects accused in the bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salam is Jordanian, clarifying that he has a Jordanian temporary passport (a travel document that is granted to the Palestinians in the West Bank), which was not renewed since last year.