AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah participated in an air drop of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Jordanian broadcaster Al-Mamlaka said on Sunday.
A video showed the monarch in military gear on board a plane in the latest mission by the Jordanian air force to drop urgent medical supplies to field hospitals it runs in the war-torn enclave. According to official media, the latest airdrop was on Feb. 6.
The kingdom, which has been among Arab neighbors pushing Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, is the only country that airdrops aid to the enclave, channelling it through these two medical facilities.
It has conducted 11 air drops, with at least two conducted with the French and Dutch airforces, to deliver medical aid.
The king, who has been vocal in calling for an end to Israel’s campaign, left on Thursday on a tour of major Western capitals and is due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Feb 12. to lobby for an immediate ceasefire.
Jordan succeeded in getting Israel to allow the World Food Programme (WFP) to send deliveries to Gaza through another land route that begins from Jordan, helping ease pressure on the main Rafah border crossing which is limited in capacity.
Jordan, which shares a border with the West Bank, fears that the Gaza conflict could spread, with wider violence by armed settlers encouraged by the army triggering a large-scale Palestinian exodus to the other side of the Jordan River.
Jordan’s King Abdullah participates in Gaza aid airdrop
https://arab.news/6snq9
Jordan’s King Abdullah participates in Gaza aid airdrop
- A video showed the monarch on board a plane in the latest mission by the Jordanian air force to drop urgent medical supplies to field hospitals it runs in Gaza
Iraq majority bloc backs Nouri al-Maliki as next PM: statement
- The Coordination Framework said that it “decided, by majority vote, to nominate” Al-Maliki for the position
- The statement spoke of Al-Maliki’s “political and administrative experience and his record in running the state“
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s main Shiite alliance, which holds a parliamentary majority, endorsed on Saturday former prime minister and powerbroker Nouri Al-Maliki as the country’s next premier.
The Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite factions with varying links to Iran, said in a statement that it “decided, by majority vote, to nominate” Al-Maliki for the position “as the candidate of the largest parliamentary bloc.”
The statement spoke of Al-Maliki’s “political and administrative experience and his record in running the state.”
A shrewd politician, Al-Maliki, 75, has long been a central figure in Iraq’s politics and its only two-term prime minister (2006-2014) since the US invasion of 2003, which ended decades of rule by the autocratic Sunni president Saddam Hussein.
Since the invasion and by convention in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister, a Sunni is parliament speaker, and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd. After Iraq’s November general election, the Coordination Framework, which includes Al-Maliki, formed the majority bloc.
Soon after, it held heated talks to choose the next prime minister, along with other discussions with Sunni and Kurdish parties regarding other posts.
Iraq’s parliament chose a speaker last month and should convene next to elect a new president, who will then appoint a prime minister to replace the incumbent Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
Al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition, remains influential in Iraqi politics despite his controversial past, including widespread accusations of corruption, stoking sectarian tensions, and failing to stop the Daesh group.
