Prince of peace

In an exclusive interview with Arabian Business, the prince speaks candidly about the recent terrorist attacks in Jordan, fighting terror, Jordan’s ambitions to become a destination known for hosting sports events, the need for proactive leadership in the Arab world, the necessity of improving the standard of living in the region, aviation and his love of flying.

When the Iraqi terrorists struck at the heart of Jordan on November 9, killing 59 people at three hotels, one of which was hosting a wedding, Prince Feisal was in Washington.

Like the majority of Jordanians the prince was shocked by the gruesome attacks, but his resolve, like most Jordanians, has grown stronger.

“Sometimes when you see it on television, you seem to be detached. I lost some friends that I knew in it, a lot of people were affected. I knew some of the families that lost people in this incident. When you go into a wedding, when you have got Muslims coming together to celebrate, you have got women, children and you are committed to create the type of terror and random violence that happened, that I think really disgusts anybody in the world,” says Feisal.

The country is currently in the process of drafting anti-terror legislation much like other countries that have fallen victim to terrorism in recent years.

But will these new laws, that would allow suspected terrorists to be held indefinitely, curtail further attacks?

Prince Feisal believes the problem of terrorism is multifaceted and not exclusive to Jordan. The key to fighting terror, he says, lies in narrowing the base from which terrorists operate and fighting the backward ideology they seek to advance by spreading a correct and moderate interpretation of Islam. But even then, no-one can quite guarantee further attacks won’t take place.

“We are obviously concerned to learn the right messages to prevent any of this from being repeated and, hopefully, take the right measures to stop this type of event from happening,” says the prince. He is currently a Lieutenant General and is the special assistant to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), specialising in joint operations and inter-agency cooperation for homeland security.

“In the long run, a lot of it has to do with continuing the process that Jordan has started — in terms of the economic reforms and political reforms we are doing — as well as trying to address the long-term issue of what is really Islam and what the Islam that we all know and understand is.

“In the long run we have to get the proper message of Islam out. I don’t think that we will ever be in a position to guarantee anywhere in the world true safety. It’s a phenomenon that is global. But Jordan has come through these very harsh times and hopefully will be better for it, a stronger nation,” he adds.

The prince believes national sentiment in the country is united against the attacks and Zarqawi will be hard pressed to find any supporters in Jordan, where thousands have rallied against him and the perpetrators of the attacks.

“I would find it very hard to believe that you would find Jordanians in all walks of life that would condone the killing of innocents,” says Prince Feisal, wearing a blue suite with a small Jordanian flag pinned to it.

“We have our own internal differences, we can argue among ourselves about what we think is better, but we will never accept people coming and creating the type of havoc and terror and death that we saw in Amman.”

On the eve of this interview, a tape by infamous Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al Zarqawi is released to the worldwide media. It threatens King Abdullah, attempts to rationalise the suicide attacks and is seen by some as a confirmation of an overspill of violence from neighbouring Iraq.

But Prince Feisal is doubtful that there will be a overspill effect or that the Arab world is in danger of seeing an escalation of violence across the region. “I don’t think so,” says the prince. “Obviously there are those that are concerned because they are seeing incidents happen, whether it’s in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia as well as Egypt, and so they think this is a growing or spreading thing that we have to worry about.

“In the long term, these issues can be addressed, but I don’t think that’s going to detract from Jordan’s view. Just after the incident, some Iraqi official said this is the price of having an open-door policy in Jordan,” the prince says in reference to Jordan being host to some 400,000 Iraqis, including the daughters of the ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

“Jordan has opened its doors to all Arabs. We have done that historically and we will never close our doors to Arabs who seek refuge and a better future. There are issues within the region that have to be addressed and I think people are seriously trying to look at addressing those. But I don’t think this is the start of an escalating cycle. A lot of these incidents are being exported and not being generated within the countries.”

The solution, says Prince Feisal, is to address grievances of the vast majority of the Arab youth, that largely centre on finding employment and better standards of living. The region has one of the highest birth rates in the world, with half the population of the Arab world under the age of 25 and growing unemployment.

By some estimates, unemployment is as high as 70% in some countries, leading some organisations such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum to conclude the region needs to create 100 million jobs by 2020 in order to put a dent in current trends and revive the region’s global competitiveness.

“The best way historically that you can prevent violence, frustration and anger is to make the whole region a better place to live in, and that’s what we are trying to do,” says Prince Feisal.

“If you look at what the Arab world has to face — creating 100 million jobs in the next 15 to 20 years — that’s a daunting task and that’s just to keep the status quo, that’s not to say that we are improving the level of employment in countries and so on. There is a general recognition that we have to move forward, that we have to be more open, create the right type of environment, the right type of laws and legislation that will allow creation of jobs and real hope in the future in the region. We are working hard to create the right type of environment,” says Prince Feisal.

In a recent report, the International Crisis Group, a respected think tank, said the November 9 terror attacks in Jordan were a “preview of further instability in the country unless the regime implements an ambitious reform program that addresses the root causes of growing public dissatisfaction.”

The organisation added: “New security measures in response to the bombings must be complemented by political, economic and cultural reforms that tackle growing public alienation toward Jordan’s Westernised elite. These should include amending laws that curtail political freedoms, expanding economic opportunities for the poor and creating an opening for credible religious teachers who denounce violence, even those critical of government policy. The regime currently has the public’s support because of outrage over the civilian casualties. It should use this small window of opportunity to deliver long-promised reforms.”

Prince Feisal points out that his brother, King Abdullah, is concerned the strategy of advancing the country not only merely revolves around economic liberalisation, but also accounts for political and social reform.

“He’s working on that,” explains Prince Feisal, in reference to blueprint for reforming the country “At the national level we’ve got the National Agenda, which will outline the path forward for Jordanians, so that we know quite clearly the way we are moving and what we need to do to get there.”

The National Agenda, yet to be ratified by King Abdullah, is a 10-year comprehensive reform initiative that intends to change and improve the country on various fronts including education, infrastructure, employment, social welfare, finance, the judiciary, investment, and political process.

But the prince also has an ambitious undertaking of his own — ‘Connected Leadership’ — a long-term vision which aims to develop strategies and actions that will shape the future climate of leadership across the Middle East and North Africa. Prince Feisal intends to have a conference in Jordan next November that will look into cultivating new leadership in the region.

“Within the Arab world, there is a tendency that when leaders get into a position of leadership, they try to discourage future leaders from emerging, rather than act as mentors and build the next level of leaders,” explains the prince.

“We are looking at it in terms of how to identify, how to work [towards creating] a new generation of young leaders, encourage leadership, encourage people to show initiative to put their energies and visions into effect. The transformation cannot be done from the top alone. You need people at all levels of society, whether government, private sector, civil society, we all have a role to play. When you look at the number of young people that we have in the Middle East, we need to be able to put their energies into productive contributions to society; to feel that they have a link to the future, that they have a role to play. We are looking to create a model of best practices in leadership across the board and share that within the Arab world,” he adds.

As Jordan tries to move ahead on these fronts, there is little indication the country will have difficulty rebounding from the violence it experienced early last month. The Amman Stock Exchange, which has a market capitalization of US$37 billion, has escaped relatively unscathed from the recent attacks.

Investor confidence seems unfazed so far, with business personalities such as Baha Hariri, son of the late Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, flying to Amman in a show of solidarity, pledging his support for the country. “I think people understand what Jordan is about and are not put off. They know that this [violence] is not Jordanian in any way and have confidence in what we are trying to do,” says Prince Feisal. “The long-term future involves preparing better conditions, politically, economically and socially. People have confidence in what we are trying to do in the country.”

The 43-year-old prince, who is an avid sports enthusiast, like his late father and siblings, believes one way of promoting peace and tolerance is through sport. He also hopes to see Jordan become a venue for large-scale future international sporting events. “We have looked at bidding for major sports events as a way of being able to highlight what Jordan has to [offer]. If you look at it just in terms of recent improvements, [in the] leaps and bounds that Jordanian sports have seen internationally, whether it’s at football [or] basketball,” explains the prince.

Jordan, which originally contemplated hosting the 2014 Asian Games, is now looking into placing a bid for the 2018 games, disclosed the prince. The cost of hosting such an event would require several billions dollars, but the prince has a plan in place that would utilise existing facilities to keep costs down.

“We are really going to invest in infrastructure, which has long-term sustainability, which is something of value for the country. Other facilities that we have [looked at] or are looking at would effectively be temporary facilities or semi-permanent. We believe by using this type of approach we can dramatically reduce the costs maybe as much as 30%-40% of actually hosting these types of events. We then believe it is capable for smaller countries to bid,” explains Prince Feisal.

Also on the agenda is the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) — an event held in 19 countries and one which the prince hopes to get Jordan involved in, especially as the country has held rally events since the 1970s.

Prince Feisal would like to see Jordan become a round of the WRC. “Jordan has a lot of history [in the sport] and I think we have a unique proposition, which is that with most of the rally Middle East championships, all the stages but one actually start, finish or go below sea level, which makes it a very unique event.

“My father was an avid sports driver. He participated in the first rally. We have a hill climb; the Ruman hill climb and he had the national record until three or four years ago. His Majesty [King Abdullah] was also a driver twice and national champion,” says prince Feisal, who participated as a co-driver with his brother and has been involved in organisational aspects of rally events in the country.

Terrorism will not affect Jordan’s role as host country, says prince Feisal, pointing to various examples around the world. “I think terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon. The Olympics bid for 2012 was won by London. The next day they had the bombing attacks, did that change the mind of the Olympic committee? No,” says the prince.

“Security is obviously one of the aspects that are looked at for hosting any event, but I think people have confidence in Jordan and what Jordan has done. We have been dealing with terrorism since the 1960s. It’s not something that is new to us unfortunately,” he adds.

Jordan has held three consecutive World Economic Forum events.

Prince Feisal, who has held various positions in the Royal Jordanian Air Force since 1981, and was Chief of Air Staff (2002-2004), inherited his love for flying from his father.

“It’s something that continues to be a passion of mine and it’s a passion that I have managed to make into a career that culminated in me being the commander of the air force. It continues to be something that I love … my father taught me to fly on helicopters. I remember him helping me learn how to command one summer,” recalls the prince.

“A few years later I actually went for my private pilots licence on an aircraft. One summer we flew a total of about ten times with my father. He was a great teacher and he just enjoyed being able to transfer his passion for flying to us and that was great.” The prince, who likes flying the F-5 figher jet — originally built by Northrop — as well as helicopters, admits he’s had a couple of close calls in the process.

“I had a couple of close shaves and when you think about what happened it does scare you, but it doesn’t deter me. Like anything that has risk you’ve got to mitigate those risks as much as possible and also know your limitations. That’s an important thing that you learn over time.”

He adds: “You never know everything in aviation, never know everything in flying, you learn with every single flight and anybody that says they know everything is a liar.”||**||