AMMAN: A Jordanian court sentenced two brothers to death on Sunday in connection with a 2016 attack claimed by the Daesh group, overturning a life sentence handed to the men last year.
The shooting attack in Karak, home to one of the region’s largest Crusader castles, killed seven policemen and two Jordanian civilians as well as a female Canadian tourist, and wounded 34 other people.
The head of the kingdom’s state security court, a military tribunal, ordered Khalid Al-Majali and Hamza Al-Majali to be “hanged to death.”
Jordan’s cassation court, the kingdom’s highest judicial body, reversed a November ruling which sentenced the two to life behind bars.
“The actions of the defendants caused chaos, panic and horror among Jordanians and foreign tourists and threatened the country’s security and stability,” a judicial source told AFP.
The two brothers were initially charged, along with eight others, with “terrorist acts,” illegal possession of arms and producing explosives.
Three were sentenced to 15 years in prison and five others to serve three years in jail.
Courts in Jordan, the target of several deadly attacks, regularly put on trial suspected extremists.
A close ally of Washington, the desert kingdom is part of a US-led coalition fighting Daesh in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and it allows coalition forces to use its bases.
Jordan sentences 2 to hang for Daesh-claimed Karak attack
Jordan sentences 2 to hang for Daesh-claimed Karak attack
- A military tribunal ordered Khalid Al-Majali and Hamza Al-Majali to be “hanged to death”
- The two brothers were initially charged, along with eight others, with “terrorist acts,” illegal possession of arms and producing explosives
US makes plans to reopen embassy in Syria after 14 years
- The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year
- Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to proceed with planning for a potential re-opening of the US Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which was shuttered in 2012 during the country’s civil war.
A notice to congressional committees earlier this month, which was obtained by The Associated Press, informed lawmakers of the State Department’s “intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume embassy operations in Syria.”
The Feb. 10 notification said that spending on the plans would begin in 15 days, or next week, although there was no timeline offered for when they would be complete or when US personnel might return to Damascus on a full-time basis.
The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year, shortly after longtime strongman Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024, and it has been a priority for President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.
Barrack has pushed for a deep rapprochement with Syria and its new leadership under former rebel Ahmad Al-Sharaa and has successfully advocated for the lifting of US sanctions and a reintegration of Syria into the regional and international communities.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president. “He’s a rough guy. He’s not a choir boy. A choir boy couldn’t do it,” Trump said. “But Syria’s coming together.”
Last May, Barrack visited Damascus and raised the US flag at the embassy compound, although the embassy was not yet re-opened.
The same day the congressional notification was sent, Barrack lauded Syria’s decision to participate in the coalition that is combating the Daesh militant group, even as the US military has withdrawn from a small, but important, base in the southeast and there remain significant issues between the government and the Kurdish minority.
“Regional solutions, shared responsibility. Syria’s participation in the D-Daesh Coalition meeting in Riyadh marks a new chapter in collective security,” Barrack said.
The embassy re-opening plans are classified and the State Department declined to comment on details beyond confirming that the congressional notification was sent.
However, the department has taken a similar “phased” approach in its plans to re-open the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, following the US military operation that ousted former President Nicolás Maduro in January, with the deployment of temporary staffers who would live in and work out of interim facilities.
