Apr 30, 2006 6:03 pm US/Central
Daley Visits Chicago's Sister City In Middle East
by Jay Levine
AMMAN, Jordan (CBS) ―
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Mayor Daley spent the day sightseeing in Amman, Jordan.
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"The Treasury" of Indiana Jones fame.
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Mayor Daley and his wife, Maggie, tour Amman, Jordan.
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Mayor Richard Daley is in the Middle East on a mission aimed at making Chicago safer. He hopes his counterparts in cities in Jordan and Israel can provide some insights into security.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine is with the mayor on his visit to Chicago's sister city Amman, Jordan.
This is Daley's third day in Jordan, but the first of his official schedule. And it began where it all began at the ancient archeological site known as Petra.
It was an arrival fit for a king, actually provided by the king with the Jordanian army helicopter from King Abdullah. The mayor, his wife, Maggie, and daughter, Nora, dined with the king last night in the Red Sea Resort of Aqaba, discussing challenges shared by the Midwestern metropolis and the Middle East kingdom.
"He's well versed. We talked about the number one issue – education," Daley said.
While here, the mayor will push to strengthen Chicago's recently signed sister city pact with Amman.
"The parents have dreams for children, and they have things to share, things we in Chicago can learn from and things they can learn us from, so it's critical to connect the people," said Gita Condit, the Chicago-Amman sister city coordinator.
There will be more about the future as the week goes on, but today was a day for history. Viewing astounding creations carved into limestone cliffs by a civilization, which lived here more than 2000 years ago before modern earthmoving, power tools, explosives or engineering.
Perhaps the most spectacular of the creations was "The Treasury" of Indiana Jones fame. It's actually a memorial not built, but carved into the cavern wall.
"We don't know exactly how many years it took them but most agree a minimum of 30 years," said the tour guide.
Today's sightseeing trip is part of a carefully-planned schedule of events with Christians and Muslims here, before moving on to Israel. The mayor is mindful of ethnic groups with significant influence and resources in Chicago, as well as the tensions which exist here today.
Daley had chosen not to take any of his own security detail. But never more a few yards away was a plain-clothes security guard from the U.S. embassy and a uniformed Jordanian security officer. We're told there were others nearby.
Tomorrow the focus will shift from the mayor's personal security to precautions taken to protect those in Jordan's modern-day capital.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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