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.
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Abdullah II versus Obama
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialRightWingNews/photos/a.401034789956656.90394.389658314427637/973041006089362/?type=1&hc_location=ufi]
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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'.
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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
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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]'
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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]'
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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Clean cut: 26-year-old Moaz al-Kasasbeh is
seen wearing his pilot's uniform before being captured by ISIS
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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'.
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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
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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.
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Preparation: A woman is seen writing a
message in Arabic on a plane-mounted missile before the air assault
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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
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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.
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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
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Show of force: A fleet of Jordanian F-16
fighter jets are lined up at a base ahead of strikes in Syria and Iraq
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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.
Read
more:
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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