Word: abdullah
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Spurred on by disturbing revelations since the Sept. 11 attacks of Yemen's connections to terrorism, President Ali Abdullah Saleh claims he wants to end the country's fabled history of lawlessness. It was one thing when tribesmen held foreign visitors for ransom; now it's clear world-class terrorists have been using Yemen for major operations and recruitment. "The President is declaring loud and clear: 'No to terrorism,'" says Faris Sanabani, a Saleh adviser and editor of the weekly newspaper Yemen Observer. "No one wants to wake up to the sound of an explosion...
...Jordanian peace accords of 1994 and the subsequent joint tourism projects undertaken a few years before the start of the second intifadeh?are nearly empty, and the tourist sites deserted. Any passing traveler can currently walk into a five-star property and pick up a room fit for King Abdullah II himself for less than $50 a night. "It's been a difficult season," admits Jordan's Minister of Tourism, Taleb Rifai. "People read headlines about crisis in the Middle East, but they don't realize that, in Jordan, we have been living a normal life throughout this troubled period...
...West." But the harsh reality for the foot soldiers of Jordan's stalled tourist industry is that it will take more than the eulogized legacy of an eccentric British officer to bring visitors back. Especially if a U.S.-led military assault on Iraq goes ahead and opens what King Abdullah II has described as "the Pandora's box of the Middle East." Ali is, it seems, in for serious earache for some time to come...
...usual in diplomacy, however, all is not as it seems. In Jordan, King Abdullah has said that a war would be Saddam's responsibility--a sign, say some analysts, that if fighting starts, he would stay neutral. Qatar, ostensibly opposed to war (and where the U.S. is building a new military base), may similarly be hedging its bets. In Washington, officials are convinced--or say they are convinced--that there's no reason to worry. "The Arabs," says a senior Administration official, "are not going to fall into line until we do something...
...Omar Abdullah kicks off his campaign to become chief minister, he talks of a new beginning to a crowd of 5,000 in the town of Uri. "This is not like the elections of the past," he declares. Abdullah is a good performer and an easy charmer. Within minutes hope is written across the faces in the audience. But as he speaks, Abdullah stands on the same Kevlar anti-shrapnel blanket that protected his father, the current chief minister; behind him, security officials are manning a device that jams signals that could detonate a remote-controlled bomb. "This time everything...