Reports: Jordan Air Force Captain Deserts, Joins Al-Nusra

A Jordanian air force captain has deserted to join the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front fighting in Syria, a family member and a Salafist leader said on Monday.

"Ahmad Atallah Shbeib al-Majali, born in 1984, took a leave from his job last Wednesday and travelled to Turkey on Friday and from there he went to Syria to join the rebels," the family member told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that he was promoted two weeks ago.

The anonymous Salafist leader said that "the captain from the Southern city of Karak has been in touch with members of Nusra and has decided to join them. There are eight people fighting with Nusra from his area."

Jordanian Salafists have reported upto 500 Jordanians are fighting in Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against the Syrian police, border guards, statesmen, army and the civilians being reported across the country.

Thousands of people have been killed since terrorist and armed groups turned protest rallies into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was almost restored in most parts of the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies brought the country into chaos through every possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May, 2012 that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling Assad's government have started receiving significantly more and better weapons, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who used to say the rebels were running out of ammunition said last May that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

Jordan not to play any military role in Syria

Jordan will not play a military role in Syria and will continue its efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in its northern neighbour, according to a senior Jordanian official.

King Abdullah’s meeting with US President Barack Obama on Friday was part of efforts by Jordan to arrive at such a solution.

The kingdom does not condone efforts to resolve the conflict through military means.

Jordan is against “having US military boots on Syrian soil,” the unidentified official was quoted as saying by the Jordan Times.

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has threatened to drag Jordan into the conflict, accusing the kingdom of Allowing the transport of weapons to the Syrian rebel movement through Jordanian territory.

Amman rejects the charge and says Jordanian security forces are maintaining a tight vigil along its borders with Syria.

The official said that Jordan stands for starting a political dialogue at various levels, including a US-Russian understanding related to stopping bloodshed in Syria and moving towards a new political era that “would preserve the interests of all.”

“The Syrian crisis should not be allowed to turn into a cause for another Cold War, and should be a reason for all, including the Americans, the Europeans and the Russians to come together,” the official added.

“The US should show political leadership in the global arena, starting with the Syrian crisis, which is having a great impact on Jordan,” he added.

Jordan hosts around half-a-million Syrian refugees who constitute a great strain on the Kingdom’s limited resources, mainly water and energy, education and health.

UN officials expect the number of refugees to rise to over one million by the end of the year at the current rate of arrivals, to reach 20 per cent of Jordan’s population.

They also believe the number would rise to some two or three million if the conflict remains unresolved next year.

Jordanian officials have warned that hosting this number would be beyond Jordan’s capability, calling for efforts to stop the conflict, or create a safe haven for refugees inside Syria.

They also warn that the conflict might spread and impact on other countries of the region, affecting the security of all.

Patriot missiles to be deployed along Jordan-Syria border

US to relocate two batteries from Qatar and Kuwait in order to protect Hashemite Kingdom, source claims

US Army officials have agreed to deploy two Patriot missile batteries along the Jordan-Syria border, London-based paper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Friday.

According to the report, the decision came after Jordanian officials requested that the US assist in protecting and securing the kingdom’s borders.

 Citing a Jordanian source, the report also claimed that the two Patriot missile batteries will be transferred from Qatar and Kuwait.

Earlier this year, several Patriot batteries were redeployed along the Turkey-Syria border after Ankara requested protection from stray mortar shells.

On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel notified Congress that the Pentagon would send about 200 soldiers from an Army headquarters unit to Jordan. Hagel explained that the troops will assist efforts to contain violence along the Syrian border and plan for any operations needed to ensure the containment of chemical weapons.

Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Momani confirmed that they would receive the 200 American troops.

“They will be here to bolster our training and defense capabilities in light of the deterioration in Syria,” Momani told The Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

French military medics head to Syrian border

French military personnel prepare materials and equipment before loading it aboard an aircraft going to Amman, on August 9, 2012 on the tarmac of the Istres military airbase, southern France.

A team of French military doctors headed to the Syria-Jordan border on Thursday to set up a mobile hospital to treat refugees fleeing Syrian violence by the thousands.

The medics aim to be operative by the end of the week and to perform up to 10 surgeries a day on those wounded in fighting, said Col. Gerard Dosseh before boarding a flight at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport.

He was among some 25 medical personnel on the team, which is bringing about 20 tons of medical equipment to Amman, Jordan, and then to a site a few dozen kilometers from the border.

France, Syria’s onetime colonial ruler, has been in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to end fighting in Syria, which has sent some 250,000 refugees fleeing to neighboring countries, and to press for a democratic transition. But as fighting intensifies, concern is focusing on the growing refugee crisis as Syrians spill out of their homeland.

"There will be many wounded who have crossed the Jordanian-Syrian border, those wounded by gunfire who will need surgery," Dosseh told AP Television News.

The Italians have also set up a field hospital in northern Jordan near the Syrian border that started operating in early July.

The French move comes as diplomatic efforts to halt the war in Syria remain stymied, with Russia and China using their veto power to block U.N. Security Council resolutions that would increase pressure on President Bashar Assad.

France, presiding over the Security Council this month, is hoping for a diplomatic breakthrough. Paris has called for a ministerial meeting Aug. 30 in New York to be devoted mainly to the humanitarian situation but also meant to show support for Syrians and concern for regional stability, the Foreign Ministry said this week. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who will lead the session, is traveling to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey starting Aug. 15.

These soft steps aren’t enough for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who interjected himself this week into the Syrian crisis with a call for France to take action as it did in Libya, where he triggered the momentum for an international coalition to back rebel fighters who ultimately killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Sarkozy spoke this week with the president of the opposition Syrian National Council, Abdelbaset Sieda, and called for "rapid action" on Syria, according to French media reports. It amounted to a dig at Socialist President Francois Hollande’s handling of the Syrian crisis. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RFI radio that such quick moves are "easy to say, very dangerous to do."