Jordan’s king says ready to fend off Syrian threat
Abdullah II declares his country 'will emerge victorious in the face of all challenges' from war-torn neighbor
AMMAN — Jordan’s king says his nation is prepared to fend off any threats from its larger Syrian neighbor.
King Abdullah II said Jordan “will emerge victorious in the face of all challenges, the way we always have in the past” as he addressed cadets graduating from Jordan’s largest military academy on Sunday.
He said that should the worsening Syrian crisis “become a threat to our country, we are capable at any time to take the necessary measures to protect our country and people’s interests.”
Jordan is hosting multinational military exercises involving thousands of US troops. The US has also agreed to install Patriot missiles along Jordan’s 375-kilometer (233-mile) border with Syria and is allowing a squadron of 12 to 24 F-16 fighter jets to remain with its key Arab ally after the exercises.
On Friday, Western diplomats in Turkey revealed that the US was considering imposing a no-fly zone upon Syria using Jordanian air defense systems that could help to monitor weapons shipments, Reuters reported.
Jordan hosts some 500,000 Syrian refugees who fled their war-torn country over the past two years.