Jordanian economist Fayez Tarawneh, who led his country's delegation to peace talks with Israel in the 1990s and served as prime minister twice, died on Wednesday at the age of 72.
Tarawneh was a confidant of the late King Hussein, representing Jordan at a crucial foreign policy juncture that resulted in long-term security arrangements with Israel and a firmer alliance with the US.
“Jordan lost one of its loyal men,” Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh said in an official announcement of the death of Tarawneh. Local media reported that he died of a terminal illness.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation under Yasser Arafat had signed the Oslo Accords with Israel. Syria's president at the time, Hafez Al Assad, leaned towards striking his own deal with the Israelis when King Hussein agreed to the talks.
For decades Jordan had fended off accusations by some Palestinians and "rejectionist" regimes, such as in Syria, that it was willing to compromise on the Palestinian cause.
Jordan rejected efforts by Egypt's Anwar Sadat to include it in peace talks with Israel in the late 1970s.
So when Arafat agreed to Oslo, which promised Palestinians self-determination but did not ultimately deliver, and talks between Assad and Israel progressed, Jordan thought itself vindicated in having struck its own deal.
Washington initiated talks between Jordan and Israel in late 1993, and as peace between Assad and Israel appeared imminent, King Hussein ordered Tarawneh, who was also Jordan’s ambassador to Washington, to wrap up the negotiations.
In October 1994, Jordan signed the peace treaty with Israel, known as the Wadi Araba Accord. Assad, for reasons that are still the subject of debate, eventually refused to sign a deal.
“Palestine has its own men,” King Hussein told Tarawneh and other members of the Jordanian delegation in 1994.
They were briefing the monarch on details of maximalist positions the Jordanian side had taken on formulating treaty clauses regarding the sharing of resources in the hope of safeguarding Palestinian water rights.
Two terms as PM
Tarawneh was a staunch royalist and obeyed King Hussein in accelerating the deal. Like many Jordanian officials, he was wary of Jordan becoming an "alternative homeland" for the Palestinians as Israel expanded settlement building and its expropriation of Palestinian land.
He later noted that the treaty regained 340 square kilometres of Jordanian land, without what he described as any adverse effect on the “overarching goal” of a comprehensive Middle East peace that would restore Palestinian rights.
Like his mentor, King Hussein, Tarawneh was highly pragmatic.
The New York Times reported that Tarawneh was sitting among the Arab ambassadors on the White House lawn who witnessed the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accord between Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Rabin went to where the ambassadors were sitting to shake hands with them. Most of the Arab envoys shook hands with him and unease appeared on the face of Syrian foreign minister Walid Mouallem. But Tarawneh was comfortable.
"Nobody told us this was going to happen," Tarawneh said, "but we are gentlemen after all."
"When I meet the Israeli ambassador at a reception, I don't hide behind a pillar. We do shake hands. Shaking hands does not really change anything."
Tarawneh graduated with a doctorate in economics from the University of Southern California in 1980. He sat on the board of several private companies and was seen as being in favour of maintaining a large role for the Jordanian government in the economy.
In 1998, a year before King Hussein’s death, the monarch appointed Tarawneh, then chief of the Royal Court, as prime minister.
He held the position until King Abdullah II became monarch in 1999.
In 2012, King Abdullah reappointed him as prime minister for five months, as the Jordanian economy floundered.
Tarawneh remained close to the new monarch, serving once again as chief of the Royal Court.
King Abdullah is expected to attend his funeral in Amman.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
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PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Netherlands v UAE, Twenty20 International series
Saturday, August 3 - First T20i, Amstelveen
Monday, August 5 – Second T20i, Amstelveen
Tuesday, August 6 – Third T20i, Voorburg
Thursday, August 8 – Fourth T20i, Vooryburg
Players Selected for La Liga Trials
U18 Age Group
Name: Ahmed Salam (Malaga)
Position: Right Wing
Nationality: Jordanian
Name: Yahia Iraqi (Malaga)
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Morocco
Name: Mohammed Bouherrafa (Almeria)
Position: Centre-Midfield
Nationality: French
Name: Mohammed Rajeh (Cadiz)
Position: Striker
Nationality: Jordanian
U16 Age Group
Name: Mehdi Elkhamlichi (Malaga)
Position: Lead Striker
Nationality: Morocco
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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57%20Seconds
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
MATCH INFO
Borussia Dortmund 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Kimmich 43')
Man of the match: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
