Al Anbat

I have just discovered the website of the Anbat newspaper (in Arabic). I have seen the paper on the newsstands before. The editor is Dr. Riad Hroub, who used to be the editor of Shihan. Al Anbat is a daily tabloid, and I wasn't impressed when I first bought it. However, the website made me rethink the issue, as it contains news and commentary that is not found in the other dailies. Here are some examples.

On the prison riot issue, there is a detailed report on the parliament session where the minister of interior explained in detail how the events transpired, and the approach taken to deal with the situation. The session was interesting because of a disagreement about how much credit deputies deserve for negotiating with the prisoners. The minister said that their negotiations had no effect, which obviously didn't please the deputies involved.

On the latest foiled terror attempt, there are details on how the fourth terrorist was caught. It seems that the Syrian authorities arrested him after the Jordanians told them where to look. The others were caught earlier in an apartment in Jabal Hussein after a tip off that a medicine ware house was being used to hide explosives. The story missed the target (so to speak), though, saying that it was a "civilian instillation" in Amman. News reports yesterday said that it was a major power station. There are no major power stations in Amman.

The editorial section is interesting as well. It features very divergent opinions, such as those of Ziad Abu Ghaneimah, a vocal Islamist, who has been arguing for inviting Hamas leaders to Amman. For the sake of balance, he also put a letter from a reader who totally disagrees with him. I thought that was quite noteworthy.

Other columnists also have very interesting pieces. Omar Kullab has written against Palestinian politicians retaining their Jordanian passports.

There is lots of interesting stuff. Check it out.