How Safe are the JRFs These Days?

[nicole]

S. Koreans to Bodyguard Jordan's Royal Family


SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- Five South Korean security experts trained in taekwondo martial arts will take charge of security for the royal family of Jordan, promoters said Thursday.

The three men and two women will leave for Jordan on Sunday to begin their assignment, scheduled to begin later this month, said their private security firm in Seoul, New Korea Total Service.

It is the first time that a South Korean security firm has been assigned to bodyguard foreign royal families or high-profile government officials.

Under a one-year contract, the three male guards will be assigned to bodyguard King Abdullah bin Hussein, while the two female guards are to protect Queen Rania al-Abdullah, company officials said.

"With fears of terrorism mounting in Gulf nations following the end of the Iraqi war, many Arab countries have expressed interests in South Korea's security guards," said Choi Seung-kap, head of the company.

The assigned bodyguards vowed to provide fool-proof protection.

"I feel a sense of burden, because South Korea's civilian security guards will be going overseas for the first time. We are fine-tuning our final training," said Lee Jeong-min, 23, a female guard.

The security firm said it is checking with other Arab nations, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, for similar contracts.

[Dennism]

BBC

King Abdullah has said that a potentially massive attack on Jordan was thwarted by the arrest of a group of suspected terrorists.

The king said the assault could have killed thousands of civilians.

Authorities in the capital Amman have arrested a number of terror suspects over the past two weeks but had been searching for a remaining man.

But officials say all the group members have now been caught and a large amount of explosives has been seized.

In a letter thanking his intelligence chief for uncovering the terrorist plot, King Abdullah said Jordan had "lived through an extremely delicate situation in recent days".

"But divine protection has thwarted the plans of these criminals and saved the lives of thousands of civilians in what would have been a crime never before seen in the kingdom," he argued.

He said the huge number of explosives discovered recently suggested the magnitude of the attack that was being planned.

Al-Qaeda suspicions

The king did not specify the name of the group involved. But the US state department attributes the plot to al-Qaeda.

It said that the group's members planned to hit the US embassy in Amman.

The intelligence chief General Saad Khair said the group used religion as a pretext for its actions, but their plans were anything but religious.

He thought that they wanted to attack Jordan's position on upholding Arab causes, especially Palestinan rights. He said mop-up operations were continuing.

Last Saturday, the authorities in Jordan said they had found cars carrying explosives by an underground group planning to attack US interests in the kingdom.

And earlier this month, cars with explosives had been driven into Jordan from Syria. Although the border is patrolled, the authorities said smugglers had managed to slip in

[maryshawn]

About two years ago I read an article in "Hello" that said King Abdullah and his family were vacationing on a yacht and a speedboat filled with bombs and ammunition was spotted and diverted before it could run into the yacht and hurt or kill the family. Today, there is the story about al Quada being stopped at the last minute from detonating devices with poisonous gasses that would've sickened or killed thousands in Amman including the royal family. You couldn't pay me enough to live that way. I read in some posts people are tired of Rania bashing. I don't know what's been said but she seems to spend more time out of the country than in it. After today, I don't blame her. I know she's lost a ton of weight but living with the stress would probably have the same effect on most of us. You are always under scrutiny. You are always being judged. And your life and that of your family is always under threat. I think she puts a pretty good face on what would be--in my view--a very stressful life.

If Queen Noor and her children are spending more time in the US and England, I can't blame them.

Mary Shawn

[maryshawn]

I think being royalty in this day and age in the Middle East must be scary as heck. I assume security has been stepped up for all of them. QR is fond of saying "you do what you want and eventually security stops saying "no." She was talking about hopping in her car and taking her kids to and from school, eating at local restaurants and just doing "normal" activities w/o security. I have to think that has stopped and everyone, including Noor, are being heavily guarded.

[tipper]

Originally Posted by maryshawn

I think being royalty in this day and age in the Middle East must be scary as heck. I assume security has been stepped up for all of them. QR is fond of saying "you do what you want and eventually security stops saying "no." She was talking about hopping in her car and taking her kids to and from school, eating at local restaurants and just doing "normal" activities w/o security. I have to think that has stopped and everyone, including Noor, are being heavily guarded.

only an act, Mary, they can't show Islamists ,I mean the terrorists they are scared, ......

[lovy_bear]

Hi there,

Erm I think that the proper term for individuals who "use" Islam for wrongdoings is Islamic extremists (just as there are individuals who are Jewish, Christian and Hindu extremists etc. who "use" their religions as a means to hurt innocent people as well). There is no such thing as an "Islamist". As for calling Islamic extremists "the" terrorists, there are many different types of terrorism in this world inclusive of many different individuals/groups who/which have nothing to do with Islam i.e. Timothy Mcveigh, Catholic-Protestant terrorism in Ireland, Cuban and Spanish terrorist groups, US governmental terrorism etc. Terrorism comes in all different sizes, shapes and forms, by individuals of many different ethnicities, cultures, religions and political ideologies who all have very different motives for their actions.

[tipper]

Originally Posted by lovy_bear

Hi there,

Erm I think that the proper term for individuals who "use" Islam for wrongdoings is Islamic extremists (just as there are individuals who are Jewish, Christian and Hindu extremists etc. who "use" their religions as a means to hurt innocent people as well). There is no such thing as an "Islamist". As for calling Islamic extremists "the" terrorists, there are many different types of terrorism in this world inclusive of many different individuals/groups who/which have nothing to do with Islam i.e. Timothy Mcveigh, Catholic-Protestant terrorism in Ireland, Cuban and Spanish terrorist groups, US governmental terrorism etc. Terrorism comes in all different sizes, shapes and forms, by individuals of many different ethnicities, cultures, religions and political ideologies who all have very different motives for their actions.

sorry. I was wrong, an Islamist is 1 who studies Islam, such as Hamzah does, e.g. a college teacher who uses to teach Islam to westrn ppl, we have this kingd of teacher ,in my country. Sure, I think u call them Fundamentalists.