Iraq recalling envoy from Jordan

BAGHDAD: Iraq will recall its ambassador to Jordan in a tit-for-tat move, after Amman withdrew its envoy to protest anti-Jordanian protests, said an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official. Earlier, Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulki said that Amman had recalled its top diplomat in Iraq for consultations after a wave of anti-Jordanian protests. “We have recalled Home for Consultations charge d’affaires Dimai Haddad because the embassy (where he lives) is unsafe for him,” said Mulki, adding, “It does not mean that we are shutting down our operations in Iraq but that we suspended them until proper security is guaranteed for the embassy.” He said that Haddad was practically under siege at Jordan’s embassy, which was targeted daily for the past week by angry Iraqi demonstrators protesting against a recent suicide bombing linked to a Jordanian. Anti-Jordanian protests have increased over the past week in Iraqi cities and outside the embassy in Baghdad after some media reports in Iraq and Jordan pinned responsibility for the Hilla bombing on Jordanian Raed el-Banna. The reports said that Banna’s family in Jordan held a service for him to honour him as a “martyr” after carrying out the attack that killed at least 118 people and wounded scores on February 28. Banna’s family has denied that he was involved in the Hilla attack. His father said his son died and was buried in Mosul and that he had received a call from an unidentified man telling him that his son had died a “martyr” in Iraq. afp

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