Associations go to the king TENSIONS between Jordan's government and 15 opposition parties have been running high as the latter asked King Abdullah II to intervene and dissolve the former, largely criticised for clamping down on public freedoms. Opposition parties, which dominate the country's professional associations -- a stronghold of 120,000 members -- sent a memo to the king last week, demanding a new government that respects Jordan's democratic, political and economic rights. "Relations are heading towards a crisis and we do not see any breakthrough unless this government steps down," Hamza Mansour, secretary-general of the influential Islamic Action Front -- whose party holds 17 seats in the 120-seat parliament -- told Al- Ahram Weekly. The memo criticised what oppositional parties see as a governmental campaign against professional associations, highlighting that such policies differ from the king's directives that call for respecting public freedoms. "We are asking for a government that guarantees public freedoms, a modern electoral law, and a solid stance against normalisation [with Israel]," Mansour added. The move comes after a three-month rift triggered by the way the government, a key US ally, handled a public rally organised by the professional associations to protest against the out-of-country voting process for Iraqi expatriates and another organised in support of the associations against the government's draconian measures. Police and anti-riot officers surrounded the professional associations complex and prevented members from entering the headquarters. Two union leaders were beaten by the authorities and anti- normalisation banners were torn down. The minister of interior barred MPs from entering the area. Such confrontations mushroomed into a standoff with 14 deputies demanding a vote of no confidence in Minister of Interior Samir Habashneh. Habashneh has repeatedly demanded that associations confine themselves to internal and professional matters, insisting that "the highly politicised associations" are "violating their laws". Political analyst Jamil Al-Nimri blames both parties for the acrimony that mars their relations, unacceptable when the country is wedged between conflicts on its eastern and western borders. The government, he says, has failed to forge a constructive relationship with opposition parties who elsewhere are guaranteed the right to express their views. The opposition has also failed, having no realistic programme or vision to affect change in the country's democratic process and the political system. Reported by Suha Ma'ayeh Death sentence upheld AN APPEALS court in Yemen last Saturday upheld the death sentence of one appellant convicted in the bombing of the USS Cole but reduced the death sentence of another to 15 years in prison. The USS Cole was attacked in October 2000 as it was refuelling at the port of Aden. The death sentence remained unchanged for Abdul- Rahim Al-Nashiri, a Saudi citizen believed to have been the mastermind of the attack. Al-Nashiri was tried in absentia as he is held in custody by US authorities at an undisclosed location. He is thought to be a close associate of Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda, and linked to the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The court overturned the death sentence of Jamal Al-Badawi, a Yemeni, who was given a 15-year jail term. Al-Badawi was convicted of being connected to the planning of the attack on the US destroyer, acquiring the boat that carried the explosives used and arranging safe houses for the bombers. Four others were given five- to 10-year prison terms. The court reduced one appellant's sentence from eight to five years but upheld a 10-year jail term for another and five years each for two others. The six appellants were originally sentenced last September. Last week, defence lawyers tried to have the convictions overturned, claiming that they were based on circumstantial evidence. They submitted a 30-page memorandum stating that the initial investigations undertaken were illegal and that the court refused to hear evidence gathered by the defence team. "Reducing the sentence for Al-Badawi was good, but 15 years is still unfair," Abdul-Aziz Al-Samawi, one of the defence lawyers, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "He was proven to be in Sanaa at the time of the attack, not Aden. What crime did he commit if he was in Sanaa? We are going to appeal again by taking the case to the Supreme Court." Earlier this month a Yemeni appeals court increased the sentences of several men convicted of bombing the French oil tanker Limburg in 2002. One was sentenced to death after being given a 10-year prison term last August. Prison terms for two other appellants were raised from five to 15 years. The court upheld the death penalty given to one appellant convicted of killing a police officer at a checkpoint three years ago. The French oil tanker was attacked off the coast of Yemen near the port of Mukalla two years after the bombing of the USS Cole. One crew member was killed with the breached tanker unloading 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden. Al-Samawi said the defence team also plans to take the Limburg case to the Supreme Court. Reporting by Peter Willems
