Tuesday, June 9, 2015

THE JORDANIAN ROYAL FAMILY CARES FOR THE FAMILY OF THE MURDERED PILOT



            We will post information about the Jordanian Royal Family consoling the grieving family members of the murdered pilot, Moaz al-Kasasbeh from the Daily Mail. King Abdullah II was awarded the Rayner Goddard Act of Courage Award, for not only defending the use of the death penalty by executing two Al Qaeda terrorists but he also cared for the murdered pilot’s family members and guided his soldiers to bomb ISIS.

            We encourage the head of States to learn from the Jordanian Royal Family where they consoled the grieving family members of the victim. 


Abdullah II versus Obama

Tears of a Queen: Rania of Jordan consoles devastated wife of pilot murdered by ISIS - who reveals she only found out about her husband's barbaric death on Facebook 

  • Anwar Tarawneh spoke of moment she heard of Moaz al-Kasasbeh's death
  • She was at gathering held in support of pilot being held hostage by ISIS
  • Received tearful phonecall from her mother and checked her phone
  • Logged on to Facebook and saw message: 'Rest in peace, Muath [Moaz]'
  • Heart-wrenching story told for first time on day she met Queen Rania
  • Jordan launches dozens of airstrikes on ISIS targets including Raqqa
  • Amman's foreign minister vows to 'go after them with everything we have'  
  • Jordan 'launched a failed bid to rescue pilot days after he was captured'
This is the moment Queen Rania of Jordan consoled the grief-stricken wife of the pilot brutally murdered by ISIS.

Devastated Anwar Tarawneh sobbed as she was comforted by the royal after the pair met at the couple's family home, near the southern town of Karak.

Pictures of the tearful meeting emerged after the widow revealed that she learned of her husband's death when she read a Facebook post saying: 'Rest in peace, Muath [Moaz]'.

Anwar Tarawneh had been married to Moaz al-Kasasbeh for just five months when he was captured by ISIS. 

The meeting came as Jordan said its warplanes had launched dozens of new airstrikes yesterday against the Islamic State group after vowing a harsh response to Lt al-Kasasbeh's death.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh warned this was just the start of its offensive against the terror group, vowing to 'go after them with everything that we have'.

 

Heart-wrenching: Queen Raina of Jordan comforts Anwar Tarawneh, wife of the pilot who was brutally murdered at the hands of ISIS militants, at her late husband's ancestral home near the southern town of Karak

Distraught: Anwar Tarawneh, left on Tuesday, who had been married to Moaz al-Kasasbeh (right) for just six months, collapsed and was admitted to hospital after she saw a post that read: 'Rest in peace, Muath [Moaz]'


Distraught: Anwar Tarawneh, left on Tuesday, who had been married to Moaz al-Kasasbeh (right) for just six months, collapsed and was admitted to hospital after she saw a post that read: 'Rest in peace, Muath [Moaz]'


Her heart-wrenching story emerged on the same day she was comforted by Jordan's Queen Raina during the royal's visit to the Kasasbeh family home, near the southern town of Karak. 

Speaking to The Independent on Thursday, Ms Tarawneh said she was at a sit-in protest being held in support of Kasasbeh on Tuesday when she received a tearful phone call from her mother.

By then, her 26-year-old husband had been an ISIS hostage for five weeks after his aircraft was shot down over Raqqa. Concerned that something was wrong, she checked her mobile.

'It was only when I opened Facebook on my phone that I saw the post,' she said. 

She also told of how her husband had felt uneasy on the day of his final flight, saying that he hoped there would be a fog so he wouldn't have to fly.

She said: 'He had the feeling something would go wrong. It was strange, he had never said that before.'

That was on December 24. Just hours later, the F-16 fighter jet Kasasbeh was shot down over ISIS-controlled territory in Syria. 

Soon afterwards, the terror group revealed he was being held prisoner.


Embrace: Jordan's King Abdullah II hugs Saif al-Kassasbeh, father of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh, during a trip to the family's ancestral home. The King promised a 'harsh' revenge for Kasasbeh's brutal death


Visit: Local TV showed a sombre-looking King (right) sitting alongside Moaz al-Kasasbeh's father Saif (left) as he paid tribute to the murdered pilot. Meanwhile, Queen Raina was comforting the women of the family


Tribute: The pilot's father, centre, surrounded by family members and security forces during a mourning ceremony in the city of Karak, Jordan, on Thursday. King Abdullah II and Queen Raina also visited
At one point, the terror group had said the pilot would be released if Jordanian officials agreed to free female would-be suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi, who was sentenced to death in 2005.

Jordan had been conducting indirect, behind-the-scenes negotiations through tribal leaders in neighbouring Iraq. 

But when evidence of his being alive was not provided, it raised suspicions that the pilot was already dead and that ISIS was exploiting his case for propaganda.

Then, two days ago, ISIS released a horrific 22-minute long video showing the pilot being burnt alive while locked in a cage. 

The act has been widely condemned as among the most sickening ever committed to film and has sent waves of revulsion across the region. 

Meanwhile, The United Arab Emirates, which suspended air strikes against ISIS, called for the US-led coalition to arm Sunni tribes in Iraq to fight the jihadists, government media reported today.

The daily Al-Ittihad said its decision to stop raids in Syria last year was 'due to the need to assure adequate protection for all pilots participating in strikes against Daesh' - an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

An even greater concern, according to the paper, is the lack of support for Sunni tribes in Iraq's Anbar province, large parts of which have been overrun by the jihadists.

'The most important reservation... is the dissatisfaction with the coalition which has not kept its promise to remember the Sunnis of Anbar, to train and equip them in the war against Daesh,' it said.

'Neither air strikes nor a media war are sufficient to defeat' IS, the paper added.  

Yesterday, Queen Rania visited the family home at the side of her husband, King Abdullah.

She was photographed hugging Ms Tarawneh close to her as the King spoke about the tragedy with the men of the family. 

State television showed a sombre-looking King sitting alongside the army chief and senior officials while visiting Aya, a village 60 miles south of the capital Amman.

Thousands of Jordanians flocked to pay respects in traditional Arab Bedouin style in a part of the country where influential tribes form an important pillar of the Hashemite rule.  



Brutal: ISIS released a horrific 22-minute long video showing the pilot being burnt alive while locked in a cage. His wife, Ms Tarawneh, was at a sit-in being held to support his plight when she heard of his death

Clean cut: 26-year-old Moaz al-Kasasbeh is seen wearing his pilot's uniform before being captured by ISIS
War planes, returning from an air raid in Syria, roared overhead as the royals sat with the family.

At one point the King pointed out the aircraft as he sat next to the victim's father, Saif al-Kasasbeh.

'You are a wise monarch. These criminals violated the rules of war in Islam and they have no humanity. Even humanity disowns them,' he told the King.

Witnesses overheard the monarch telling the pilot's father the planes were returning from the militant-held city of Raqqa. 

A security source later said the strikes also hit targets in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor as well as near Raqqa. 

The visit comes after a Jordanian government spokesman denied rumours that the King was preparing to personally take part in the airstrikes.

In a statement, Mohammed al-Momani branded said the reports that the King - who is a trained pilot - will soon conduct raids himself are unfounded and baseless.

Rumours spread online earlier this week that Abdullah was considering a combat role in the war after insisting al-Kasasbeh's death 'will not be in vain'. 


Airstrike: The slickly-edited video released tonight contains aerial shots that appear to show Jordanian strikes on Islamic State targets. The Royal Jordanian Air Force launched strikes on Syria this morning


The Royal Hashemite Court's official Facebook page later shared an image of the King wearing a pilot's uniform, which some mistakenly - including several Iraqi news outlets - took to mean he had carried out an air raid. 

Other social media users then starting sharing old photographs on the King sitting in a plane's cockpit, suggesting the images were taken on his return from a sortie to Syria. 

Before becoming king, Abdullah was a military general who headed the Jordanian special forces. 

He is also a fully qualified Cobra Helicopter pilot and in 1980 joined Sandhurst - the British Royal military academy also attended by Prince William and Prince Harry. 

The Jordanian fighter jets carried out new air strikes a day after King Abdullah vowed to wage a 'harsh' war against Islamic State militants who control parts of neighboring Syria and Iraq. 

'It's actually the beginning of our retaliation over this horrific and brutal murder of our brave young pilot,' Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said in an interview with CNN later on Thursday.

'But it's not the beginning of our fight against terrorism and extremism. We're going after them with everything that we have.'

Dozens of fighter jets targeted weapons storage facilities and ISIS training centres in Syria this morning - and for the first time sites in Iraq were hit.  


Preparation: A woman is seen writing a message in Arabic on a plane-mounted missile before the air assault


Target: Dozens of Jordanian fighter jets bombed ISIS training centers and weapons storage sites on Thursday. Above, aerial footage from the video released today appears to show a pilot seeking a target

Footage of the attacks were broadcast on state TV - the latest show of force in response to the brutal ISIS video. 

The military's statement, read on state TV, was entitled, 'This is the beginning and you will get to know the Jordanians' - an apparent warning to ISIS. 

It said the strikes will continue 'until we eliminate them.'

With its stirring soundtrack and complex editing, the video is similar in style to those released by ISIS, which have been striking in their professional use of camera and editing equipment.

The clip shows uniformed people, believed to be members of the Jordanian military, writing messages in Arabic across plane-mounted missiles. One reads 'for you, the enemy of Islam'.  

U.S. military aircraft joined the mission to provide intelligence, surveillance as well as reconnaissance and targeting support, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official also said the strikes focused on multiple targets around Raqqa. 


The video also features a pilot holding up a sign that reads: 'And do not think that God is unaware of what the evildoers are doing' - an apparent warning to ISIS militants. The message is based on a passage in the Quran


Show of force: A fleet of Jordanian F-16 fighter jets are lined up at a base ahead of strikes in Syria and Iraq 


Military commanders briefed King Abdullah after the missions about the details of the strikes, state television said. 

The monarch has vowed to avenge Kasaesbeh's killing and ordered commanders to prepare for a stepped-up military role in the U.S.-led coalition against the group.

But many Jordanians fear being dragged into a conflict that could trigger a backlash by hardline militants inside the kingdom.

Jordan is a major U.S. ally in the fight against militant Islamist groups, and hosted U.S. troops during operations that led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The country is also home to hundreds of U.S. military trainers bolstering defences at the Syrian and Iraqi borders and is determined to keep the jihadists in Syria away from its frontiers.

News of the latest airstrikes came as scores of people were killed when rebels unleashed rocket fire on Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad's forces retaliated.

At least 66 people, including 12 children, were killed by regime air strikes and shelling on rebel areas around Damascus Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The assault on the Eastern Ghouta region came after rebels fired more than 100 rockets at the city, killing 10 people including a child, the Britain-based group said. 

More than 200,000 people have died since anti-government protests erupted in Syria in early 2011, escalating into a multi-sided civil war that brought jihadists streaming into the country.
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JORDAN 'LAUNCHED FAILED BID TO SAVE PILOT DAYS AFTER CAPTURE'

Jordanian forces mounted a daring attempt to save its captured pilot on New Year's Day, but the mission ended in failure, a Syrian activist claimed today.

The operation took place in the Islamic State's de facto capital of Raqqa days after Lt al-Kasasbeh was shot down over their territory.

It had been widely reported at the time that a huge operation involving Coalition airstrikes had been launched on the city that day.

However, it has now been suggested that Jordan was at the centre of a parallel rescue mission during the bombing raids.

Abu Ibrahim Raqqawi, an activist in Raqqa and administrator for the secret anti-ISIS campaign Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, told the Daily Beast: 'The Jordanians tried to free the pilot on January 1.'

A source close to Jordanian intelligence confirmed Raqqawi's comments, but did not elaborate, the website reported.

Five coalition aircraft were said to have hovered at low altitude over Raqqa, while more than a dozen raids were carried out on the outskirts of the city.

A number of key ISIS buildings were destroyed, while at the other end of the city, two helicopter gunships attempted to deploy special forces on the ground to rescue hostages, including al-Kasasbeh.

But both gunships soon came under heavy fire and were forced to abort their attempt to land as heavy clashes between coalition forces and militants ensued.

The Jordanian government has not officially commented on the alleged rescue mission and the Pentagon said it was not involved in any such attempt. 

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