By Raed Omari
AMMAN – Tafileh MPs and senators on Tuesday issued a statement, demanding an apology from Agence France-Presse (AFP) for publishing “false” news reports that His Majesty King Abdullah’s motorcade was attacked by stone throwers during his visit to their city on Monday.
In the statement, the signatories said AFP committed a “big mistake by publishing an imprecise news report… and in doing so, the news agency harmed its reputation, credibility and well-known professionalism”.
They went further by saying that the false news was intended to harm the reputation of Tafileh and its people, adding that they received hundreds of phone calls from citizens in the southern city denouncing and rejecting AFP’s actions.
“The fact that AFP ignored was that the King’s visit to Tafileh was a complete success, showing clearly how intimate and strong the Monarch’s relationship is with the city and its people,” said the statement, a copy of which was sent to The Jordan Times yesterday.
In addition, the signatories pointed out that the AFP reports did not mention that the King’s motorcade drove past cheering crowds on Tafileh’s main roads for around 15 kilometres, during which the King, on more than one occasion, climbed out of his car to talk to an old woman and shake hands with elderly men.