Word: aqaba
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Washington decided to crack down last month. CIA Director Robert Gates visited King Hussein at his Aqaba retreat on the Red Sea to remind him of his responsibilities. It was an appropriate venue for the mission; the bulk of the illegal cargoes that are eventually trucked into Iraq enter Jordan via ships docking at Aqaba. Confronted with the CIA'S evidence of cross-border smuggling, however, Hussein has finally ordered officials to stop the trade. Truck traffic from Jordan to Iraq has since declined by a third. In Amman last week, Secretary of State James Baker acknowledged a "reduced leakage...
...foreign banks, Saddam has plenty of funds to bribe Jordanian officials and purchase goods abroad, including luxury items to buy the continued loyalty of military and security officers in Baghdad. His agents forge export licenses, issue phony letters of credit for the front companies, and pay shipment costs to Aqaba's free port. There cargoes supposedly destined for Jordanian companies are loaded onto trucks bound for Iraq. "Saddam is willing to pay a high price," says Jawad Anani, former Jordanian Trade Minister, "and plenty of people here were willing to take high risks in return for the promise of hefty...
When a polo pony from the royal compound in Jordan plunged into the Gulf of Aqaba and swam to the Israeli resort town of Eilat, local authorities took no chances. They checked to see if the defector was booby-trapped. It wasn't. Though Jordan and Israel are technically at war, Israeli officials returned the pony through a U.N. go-between...
...government figures, the United Nations-ordered embargo of Iraq, where 70% of Jordan's exports go, could cost up to $4 billion in lost revenues this year. Tourists, who brought in more than $500 million last year, have virtually disappeared. The sanctions have idled the once thriving port of Aqaba, and shipments of fruits and vegetables are rotting at the border. Deprived of access to foreign markets, Jordan's agricultural and industrial sectors are beginning to atrophy. While food bins in Amman remain full, the possibility of shortages looms closer each...
...refugees have been repatriated through Jordan, most of them Egyptians traveling by plane and ship from the port of Aqaba. The number of daily flights from Amman has doubled from 50 to 100 in an effort to evacuate the refugees. India is averaging six flights a day, while Pakistan, which has resettled about 7,000 citizens, sent a passenger ship to Aqaba last week. The International Organization for Migration has launched a $50 million airlift program to aid Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis and others whose impoverished countries have offered little help...