Jordan’s King Abdullah has called for crushing Islamist terror in Jordan:

King Abdullah said Jordan’s reforms were “irreversible” and the suicide attacks would not halt them.

“At the same time, it reaffirms our need to adopt a comprehensive strategy to confront the Takfiri culture,” he said.

Takfiris believe contemporary Muslim society has reverted to a state of unbelief (kufr) and thus consider legitimate both rebellion against the state and acts of violence against Muslim citizens.

The king wants Mr Bakhit to “not only deal with the security dimension, but also the ideological, cultural and political spheres to confront those who chose the path of destruction and sabotage to reach their goals”.

He also called for a “relentless war on all the Takfiri schools, which embrace extremism, backwardness, isolation and darkness and are fed on the ignorance and naivety of simple people.”

He said fatwas, or religious decrees, issued by Takfiri schools constituted a threat to Jordan’s society and its interests.

Jordan’s relations with Israel, and its defiant stance against Islamist terror makes it a country worthy of strong American support. Muslim leaders like Abdullah and Pakistan’s President Musharraf, may just be able to lead their peoples away from Islamic extremism and closer to civilized norms.