AMMAN, Jordan — The commander of Jordanian Special Operations Forces has offered to provide regional and international cooperative counterterrorism training when the kingdom’s new King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) becomes operational later this year.

Speaking at the March 31 Middle East Special Operations Commanders Conference here, Maj. Gen. Jamal al-Shawabkeh said the new facility aims to serve as a hub for cooperative training of counterterrorism units in the region and throughout the world.

“The center demonstrates Jordan’s willingness to share expertise in fighting terrorism with all countries that are willing to combat terrorism,” said Jamal, the officer who 30 years ago established Jordan’s first anti-terrorism team.

“Jordan will share this knowledge with others regardless of their religion, language or any political background,” Jamal said. “We are very generous with our friends and allies in sharing our knowledge, and we wish to learn from them as well.”

According to the Jordanian special operations chief, only through cooperation can nations advance the fight against terrorism. He said too many nations of the world have suffered “from the menace of terrorism,” a phenomenon he defined as a deliberate use of violence against innocents to achieve ideological aims.

“They intend to manipulate the beliefs of others to justify their acts,” Jamal said.

The Jordanian officer noted that in the November 2005 triple suicide bombings in Jordan’s capital city, “terrorist leaders succeeded in manipulating the non-Jordanian suicide attackers, who slipped across the border and reached their soft targets.

Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings of three hotels in the Jordanian capital which killed 60 and wounded 115.

“That operation had its own long-term goals: First to make fitna [discord] among Muslims and [secondly] between Jordanians and Iraqis. But the willingness of Jordanian society, from all walks of life, showed the world that Jordanians are united,” Jamal told visiting military leaders and dignitaries here.

According to Jamal, terrorists are abusing Internet technologies and modern communications to “spread their venom and ensure that their cowardly acts are heard” while they essentially remain out of reach.

As a countermeasure, he said governments and responsible media “should realize the same means are available to us. Media can be used to show our united stand against terrorism and their evil deeds,” he said.

The Jordanian general said the special operations community worldwide plays a vital role in countering the scourge of terrorism.

“We are all equipped with the latest technologies in our countries, and we all can prevent, protect and defend our people from those terrorist organizations and bring those ill-minded to justice to have justice brought to them,” he said.

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