Jordan’s King Abdullah II [official website] has urged the Jordanian parliament to quickly approve new anti-terrorism legislation, drafted two weeks ago [JURIST report] in the wake of last month’s hotel bombing [Reuters report] that left 60 people dead. During the Thursday opening of the third parliamentary session since 2003 elections, King Abdullah II said that “we do realize that Jordan’s location, its message and positions are the reasons that it was targeted and that these attacks impose upon it the largest security challenges to ever confront it.” Terrorists loyal to the Jordanian-born al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [BBC profile] claimed responsibility for the Amman hotel bombing. The anti-terrorism bill allows the government to hold suspected terrorists indefinitely, and would impose penalties on any person who “would expose the lives and properties of citizens to danger inside and outside the country.” Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said last week [Jordan Times report] that �Jordan is not a police state and we won’t be turned into one. The new law is being examined carefully and it will take into consideration similar anti-terrorism bills in other countries.” However, he stressed that Jordan would “no longer tolerate an opinion that condones or supports the killing of innocent civilians under any pretext.� AFP has more.

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