AMMAN - A German tourist who was attacked in downtown Amman in March returned to the location of the incident on Friday to meet with local residents.
Reinhardt Simross and his family were invited by the government for a three-week visit to the country during which they toured tourist sites in the northern and southern regions as well as the capital.
Simross was walking near Al Husseini Mosque with his wife on March 14 when a man drew a knife and stabbed him once, according to authorities.
The attacker, 34-year-old Mahdi Barham, attempted to escape but was immediately apprehended by a traffic police officer and citizens in the area, according to the Public Security Department.
"We felt that the least we could do is to offer him another vacation," Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Maha Khatib said in a phone interview with The Jordan Times, pointing out that Simross had been saving money for three years to be able to tour the country, but his previous vacation was "ruined".
The 63-year-old was attacked at the beginning of his family's vacation, Khatib noted, adding that "he did not have the chance to truly see Jordan although he had paid for his vacation".
The tourist refused to talk to The Jordan Times, but a German friend of his said Simross still likes Arabs despite the unfortunate incident.
"He believes it was just his bad luck. It can happen to anyone, anywhere," she told The Jordan Times.
Simross wanted to go back downtown "to have tea with people and talk to them... to show them that he harbours no ill will towards them", the German national told The Jordan Times, adding that he also presented the hospital that treated him with a box of chocolates as a "thank you".
Barham, who reportedly confessed and reenacted his crime, is currently standing trial at the State Security Court (SSC).
The charge sheet said the defendant would always get angry because he regarded tourists visiting the area as being the cause "of all the problems that face Muslim nations".
The defendant decided to take revenge and plotted to attack and kill these tourists, according to the charge sheet, which added that he bought a knife at the beginning of the year and waited for the right moment to use it.
His defence lawyer, Zahra Sharabati, provided the SSC with papers indicating that Mohammad Barham was "schizophrenic and not fit to stand trial", postponing proceedings until a mental evaluation is issued by the National Institute for Psychiatric Medicine (NIPM).
The NIPM is expected to issue its report on Tuesday, she said.
"He will be held accountable for his act if the report says that he was aware of what he was doing," Sharabati told The Jordan Times, noting that if the report indicates the suspect does suffer from schizophrenia, "he will not stand trial".
By Thameen Kheetan
© Jordan Times 2008
