Father of slain gendarme says PM was not attacked when offering condolences

AMMAN — The father of slain Gendarmerie officer Nart Nafesh on Tuesday dismissed as inaccurate news reports that Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour was attacked while offering condolences over the gendarme’s death.

“No such thing happened,” Haitham Nafesh told The Jordan Times.

Electronic media outlets and social media websites reported that a group of angry youths clashed with the guards accompanying Ensour while he was offering condolences to the Nafesh family on Monday

Some reports claimed that Ensour was the target of the attack.

“The story is simply untrue. There was only a verbal argument between one of my son’s friends and Ensour’s guards that ended quickly. It was not a clash between two groups as reported but a verbal argument between two people,” Nafesh said in a phone interview.

The father added that Ensour offered his condolences and had a “warm” conversation with him and the family. 

“Ensour stayed with us for an hour. No one insulted him. He is a respectful man whose gesture was highly appreciated,” Nafesh said.

He said any party that exaggerated the incident has “evil intentions”, seeking to destabilise the country and its social unity.   

Second Lieutenant Nart Nafesh, 23, was part of a patrol that was guarding a post in the city of Maan, some 220km south of Amman, when a group of suspects opened fire with automatic weapons at 4:45am on Sunday.

Police are still searching for the unidentified assailants.

Maan Mayor Majed Sharari denounced the incident, saying that the city’s residents want peaceful solutions to resolve the problem. 

“Everyone is Maan is upset over what happened this week and they have expressed their support for the young Jordanian’s family at this difficult time,” Sharari said.

He called on security personnel to find the perpetrators and punish them whether they were from Maan or from outside the southern city. 

“I believe there are parties that want to bring chaos to the city of Maan and this incident is one example,” he added. 

At a press conference on Monday, Interior Minister Hussein Majali said the killing of the officer was an “assassination” and those who killed him were trying to hinder initiatives undertaken to resolve the town’s problems and disputes with the central government following several months of tension.

He stressed that the government will not be lenient with the assailants and they will be detained and brought to justice.

Security services are leading a campaign in Maan to detain some 19 outlaws wanted for criminal charges.

During an attempt to arrest one of these earlier this year, a man died and his wife later succumbed to her injuries. 

Four Gendarmerie officers were injured in the incident and others have been target of sporadic shootings and attacks.