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Jordan and Emirates Carry out Airstrikes in Syria Against Islamic A12 N THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015 Jordan and Emirates Carry Out Airstrikes in Syria Against Islamic State By HELENE COOPER raids; Mansour Jaboor, the head defend our religion, our nation, American military officials ed Arab Emirates officials that that the most significant contri- and ANNE BARNARD of Jordan’s Air Force, said that and the future of our country and maintained that Islamic State they had sent additional rescue bution that Jordan could make WASHINGTON — Fighter jets Jordan had carried out 56 air- our sons. fighters captured the Jordanian helicopters to Erbil, Iraq. could be through its intelligence deployed by Arab allies launched strikes against the Islamic State But in other ways, since last pilot, First Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh, In an interview on Tuesday, contacts, strengthened by clan a series of airstrikes in Syria in in recent days, as King Abdullah week, when the video of the pilot within minutes after his plane Yousef al-Otaiba, the United Arab and tribal links to Iraqis across the early hours Tuesday, as the of Jordan continued to make being burned alive was released, went down, and said that search Emirates ambassador to the the border. United Arab Emirates returned good on his promise to avenge King Abdullah has been stepping teams did not have enough time United States, said that Emirati President Bashar al-Assad of to combat missions against the the immolation of a Jordanian pi- up raids on the Islamic State — or to locate him before he was cap- concerns had been addressed. Syria, in a rare interview with the Islamic State for the first time lot by the militant Sunni group. at least increasingly publicizing tured. A senior military official “The suspension of combat op- BBC on Monday, denied the wide- since December, and Jordan sep- Bahrain’s ruler issued a public them — and working to increase said that Lieutenant Kasasbeh’s erations was made for purely op- ly documented use of indiscrimi- arately continued its escalation of statement that his country was Arab participation in the coalition parachute had been spotted erational and planning reasons, nate barrel bombs by Syrian gov- strikes against Sunni militants. ready to assist Jordan in the fight against the group. quickly by the militants and that not political ones,” Mr. Otaiba ernment forces against civilian A squadron of Emirati F-16 against the Islamic State, accord- The public announcements of he had landed right in their said. He added that the Emirates areas. fighters struck Islamic State tar- ing to a statement released by increased Arab participation in midst. was “fully committed” to defeat- “I know about the army,” Mr. gets in Syria and returned safely Jordan’s palace. the fight against the Islamic But his capture raised ques- ing the Islamic State “and will Assad said. “They use bullets, to base in Jordan, the U.A.E. Jordanian officials denied re- State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, tions about whether rescue not back down.” missiles and bombs. I haven’t Armed Forces announced. ports of a large movement of is welcome news for the Obama teams would have been able to But far more than the oil-rich heard of the army using barrels, Emirati officials said the con- ground troops toward the Iraqi administration, which has sought get to him within the so-called Gulf Arab states, Jordan is deal- or maybe cooking pots.” cerns that had prompted them to border, and asked journalists to to characterize the fight against golden hour, after which time ing with poverty and unemploy- Mr. Assad also maintained that suspend combat missions — that “be careful and to abide by the in- the Sunni militants as an interna- chances of survival from a crash ment, said Hasan Abu Hanieh, a Damascus was being informed the United States Central Com- formation that is issued by the tional coalition with Arab partici- or injury drop sharply. When Jordanian expert on Islamist about airstrikes against the Is- mand had not deployed sufficient concerned agencies and the Jor- pation. United Arab Emirates officials groups. The Obama administra- lamic State, and said that they assets closer to the battlefield to dan Armed Forces.” While American pilots have by discovered that most of the res- tion has increased aid to Jordan, could help his government if they rescue downed pilots — had now “There is no talk about a far carried out the bulk of the cue teams and aircraft were and Congress is prodding the were “more serious.” been addressed. ground war,” one official said, combat missions in Iraq and Syr- based in Kuwait, they said that White House to increase military But the Pentagon press secre- Jordan also stepped up its speaking on the condition of ano- ia, the United States is loath to their pilots would not fly until assistance as well. tary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said nymity in accordance with gov- appear as if it is acting alone. So there was a system in place for Jordan, however, “needs to the United States was not “com- Helene Cooper reported from ernment protocol. “We will not be the suspension of Emirati combat more rapid search and rescue. make sure the public feels they municating or coordinating our Washington, and Anne Barnard reluctant to face this criminal missions in December came as a Last week, the United States have a real say in this,” Mr. military operations with the As- from Beirut, Lebanon. gang in any place in the world to blow. Central Command notified Unit- Hanieh said. Other analysts said sad regime.” Proof of Death in Hand, Family Honors Hostage By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI and explained that they had con- and ERIC SCHMITT ducted detailed surveillance to For one tortured weekend, the make sure that no hostages were parents of Kayla Mueller refused seen going in or out. But a senior to believe that their daughter American official who requested was dead. From their home in anonymity to discuss classified Prescott, Ariz., they issued an im- information acknowledged that passioned plea to the Islamic they had not been able to survey State, which had held her captive the building around the clock. since August 2013, and urged the “We have no definitive evi- extremist organization to contact dence of how, or when, she died,” them privately with proof of her he added. death. The militants acquiesced Described by friends and fam- and sent at least three photo- ily members as a deeply ideal- graphs of her corpse. istic young woman eager to help Those photos are among the those less fortunate, Ms. Mueller few clues about her life and death was just shy of her 25th birthday in captivity, as is a letter that she on Aug. 4, 2013, when she disap- wrote from her cell last year and peared in the northern Syrian that her family made public on city of Aleppo. Tuesday. She had arrived in Syria a day Two people briefed on the fam- earlier with a Syrian man who ily’s communication with the Is- has been described as her boy- lamic State said that her parents friend or colleague. had received at least three pho- He had been contracted to fix ASSOCIATED PRESS/COURTESY OF THE MUELLER FAMILY tos. Two showed Ms. Mueller, the Internet connection at a Doc- who was 26, in a black hijab, or tors Without Borders office, and Muslim head covering, that part- employees of the international ly obscured her face. Another charity were flabbergasted when showed her in a white burial Ms. Mueller showed up with him. shroud, which is used in tradi- Syria was then a no-go zone for tional Muslim funerals. The im- most international aid workers, ages showed bruises on the face, said employees of the charity, but both people, who reviewed who explained that they had re- the photographs and asked not to luctantly housed her overnight be identified given the sensitivity and agreed to drive her to a bus Kayla Mueller, above, wrote about her captivity in a letter that station for what was supposed to of the matter, said it remained her family made public Tuesday. At left, Ms. Mueller’s aunts, unclear whether her injuries be her trip back to Turkey. were consistent with being killed Her car was ambushed on the Terry Crippes and Lori Lyon, paid tribute to her. in the rubble of a flattened build- way, and she and her Syrian com- ing, as the Islamic State reported. panion were abducted. He was in high school, where she became after to Israel. In 2010, she volun- The group, also known as ISIS later freed and has declined to involved with a campaign that teered with the International Sol- or ISIL, said on Twitter last week speak about what happened. aimed to stop Flagstaff, Ariz., city idarity Movement in the Palestin- that Ms. Mueller had died in a Once in the hands of the mil- officials from using recycled ian territories, according to Ab- building that had been demol- itants, Ms. Mueller was forced to waste water to make snow on a dullah Abu Rahma, the group’s ished by Jordanian airstrikes, a wear the hijab and was placed in set of peaks considered sacred to coordinator in the village of claim that both the White House a cell with female detainees, ac- the Hopi people. By the time she Bil’in. and Jordan’s government said cording to two former hostages enrolled at Northern Arizona He said Ms. Mueller had joined was unfounded. held in the same facility. She was University in 2007, the Save the them in using nonviolent means Yet the images sent to her fam- moved a number of times, and Peaks campaign was just one of to protest the Israeli occupation.
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