U.S. disputes Jordan’s claim that Americans caused shooting
The U.S. Embassy in Jordan on Nov. 17 disputed Amman’s claim that U.S. trainers sparked a deadly shooting incident at a Jordanian military base this month by disobeying orders from Jordanian soldiers. The shooting killed three Americans.
The three slain Americans were assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They were identified as 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, of Lawrence, Kansas; 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe of Tucson, Ariz.; and 27-year-old Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty of Kerrville, Texas.
They died after the convoy they were in came under fire as it entered the al-Jafr air base in southern Jordan on Nov. 4. The Americans were in Jordan on a training mission.
Embassy spokesman Eric Barbee told The Associated Press on Thursday that U.S. investigators are considering all possible motives and “have not yet ruled out terrorism.”
After the shooting, Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported that the slain American military trainers had disobeyed direct orders from Jordanian troops, which led to a deadly exchange of small-arms fire.
Barbee said there’s “absolutely no credible evidence” for the claim. Jordan later issued a different statement removing the claim.
A fourth American soldier was wounded in the incident, as well as the Jordanian soldier who opened fire and has not yet been identified.
Brett McGurk, the White House envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group, said Jordan’s King Abdullah II expressed condolences over the deaths of the Americans.
McGurk also said an investigation is ongoing and praised Jordan’s role in the fight against IS, which holds territory in neighboring Syria and Iraq. AP
UK says Chagos islanders evicted for US base may not go home
Indian Ocean islanders who were forced from their homes decades ago to make way for a U.S. military base will not be allowed to return, the British government has announced.
Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the tropical Chagos archipelago, a British colony, in the 1960s and 1970s so the U.S. military could build an air base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
Chagossians have fought in British courts for years to return to the other islands. In June, the Supreme Court rejected their most recent appeal.
The British government announced Nov. 16 that it will continue to lease Diego Garcia to the U.S. until 2036. It said it has decided against letting the islanders return “on the grounds of feasibility, defense and security interests, and cost to the British taxpayer.”
Foreign Office Minister Joyce Anelay said it would be impractical to set up “a small remote community on low-lying islands.”
Conservative lawmaker Andrew Rosindell said Thursday that the decision had caused “shock, anger and dismay” among islanders.
“These are British subjects, and they are entitled to the same rights and freedoms and self-determination that all British citizens should have,” Rosindell told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
The government promised $50 million in compensation to the displaced islanders.
The eviction of the islanders from their home halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia has long been controversial for Britain. U.K. authorities have expressed regret for the treatment of the islanders, but successive governments have blocked their attempts to return.
The key obstacle is the strategically important Diego Garcia base, which has supported U.S. military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the U.S. acknowledged it also had been used for clandestine rendition flights of terrorist suspects. AP
Court rejects U.S. soldier’s request for asylum in Germany
A Munich court has rejected a U.S. soldier’s asylum application in Germany, arguing that he hasn’t exhausted all avenues to leave the military.
Army Spec. Andre Shepherd deserted from his military base in southern Germany in 2007, claiming he wanted to avoid returning to Iraq where he feared being involved in war crimes.
The 39-year-old, who has permanent residency in Germany because he is married to a German woman, took his case to court after German authorities rejected the asylum bid.
The Munich administrative court noted in its ruling Nov. 17 that the Apache helicopter mechanic had repeatedly re-enlisted with the U.S. military.
The dpa news agency reported Nov. 17 that Shepherd’s lawyer plans to appeal the verdict.
A spokesman for the U.S. Army in Europe couldn’t immediately comment on the case. AP