Jordan to boost security over Christmas and Id al-Adha

Since last year's Amman triple bombings, Jordan has upgraded security at department stores, shopping malls, cinemas and hotels.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Terror alert 298.88 (photo credit: Channel 1 [file])
Terror alert 298.88
(photo credit: Channel 1 [file])
Jordan plans to step up security over Christmas and the Islamic holiday that follows it, the country's public security spokesman said Saturday. Maj. Bashir al-Da'aja told the Petra news agency that the increased measures include increasing police patrols in residential and crowded areas, including shopping malls and entertainment districts, to prevent theft and harassment. The holiday season begins with Christmas, celebrated December 25 and by adherents of eastern churches on January 4. It is followed by Id al-Adha, the most important holiday on the Islamic calendar. Christians account for approximately 3.5 percent of Jordanians. Al-Da'aja focused on measures to prevent thefts and the firing of guns in the air, a common practice on holidays and at celebrations that has led to accidental injuries and even death. He did not mention a possibility of terror attacks. Since the Amman triple bombings that killed 62 people in November 2005, Jordan has upgraded security at department stores, shopping malls, cinemas and hotels. The nation's security forces have also foiled several terrorist plots and referred the suspects implicated in the plots to the State Security Court. Last week, a military court convicted a Palestinian resident of Jordan and sentenced him to death for killing a British national in Amman in September.