AKEED – Rasha Salameh

A news report titled “Jordan Considers the Creation of a Ministry of Defense with US Support” proved incorrect, according to Jordan Media Credibility Monitor, AKEED.

The news, posted by an online Arabic newspaper, also reported that US political and military circles were interested in the Jordanian move. The news, which was fact-checked with the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) and the US Embassy in Amman, proved false.

JAF Spokesperson, Colonel Oudeh Shdeifat, told AKEED that the allegations were baseless.

Spokesperson for the US embassy in Amman, Eric Barbee, explained that the embassy does not give any statements, nor leaks any news related to Jordan’s internal affairs. He also told AKEED that the JAF and Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates were the two authorized establishments that could comment on the issue.

The anonymous news report had said that “sources close to the US embassy in Amman” spoke about “drawing up the organizational structure needed for the creation of a specialized ministry in the next few weeks”. These sources were quoted by the report as noting that the “the issue had been discussed in details with senior officials in Amman”.

It is worth noting that the report was full of linguistic errors.