Jordan Times
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Congress considering more aid to Jordan
AMMAN (Petra) — A senior US representative on
Wednesday said the Bush administration asked the Congress to allocate $461
million for Jordan in economic assistance for 2006, the Jordan News Agency,
Petra, reported.
During a meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah in Washington, Chairman of the
House Subcommittee on Appropriations Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona) said the
representatives are currently considering earmarking $200 million in aid to the
Kingdom, in addition to the already approved $456 million for this year,
according to Petra.
Meanwhile, Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Senate Committee
on Appropriations, stressed that the Congress will continue to support
"pioneering initiatives" launched by Jordan.
Cochran added that his meeting with the King was "at a very crucial stage and
provided the lawmakers with a chance to renew economic support for the Kingdom
and desire to bolster bilateral ties."
King Abdullah reiterated that Jordan was determined to go ahead with its
development and reform plans, stressing that the ultimate goal of such plans is
to improve the living standards of Jordanians.
The King highlighted the importance of US assistance in achieving that goal.
In addition to Kolbe and Cochran, the King met with Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist (R-Tennessee), House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), Chairman of the
Senate Committee on External Affairs Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), Chairman of the
House Committee on External Affairs Henry Hyde (R-Illinois) and other prominent
legislators.
Also Wednesday, King Abdullah discussed bilateral relations and Middle East
issues with US Vice President Dick Cheney.
'Pushing the envelope'
On Tuesday, King Abdullah said the debate created about reform in the Middle
East has spurred some of its countries to "push the envelope."
Speaking in Washington during an interview with anchor and senior editor of
ABC's World News Tonight Peter Jennings, the King said the democratic movement
taking place in Palestine and Iraq provides a momentum for reform and
modernisation throughout the region.
"I am encouraged because... if we can show success with the Israelis and
Palestinians, the Palestinian election, which I thought was very successful, and
if we can show success in Iraq, it allows the rest of us to be able to move much
more freely, and to be able to push the envelope. So any cases of movement in
political reform throughout the Middle East... I think supports those countries
that want to move in that direction," King Abdullah said.
Asked about Jordan's advancement in this arena, the Monarch pointed to the
short-term and long-term national plans designed to first decentralise the
system of governance, and then to set a national agenda of the country's
priorities over the next 10 years and make them state priorities rather than
government priorities.
"We have a national agenda, which is a sort of 10-year programme, bringing in
civil society to create a roadmap on where Jordan should go. I think that is
very important. More importantly, from my short-term point of view, along with
political reform is this idea of complete government decentralisation, and the
creation of three regions in Jordan — north, central and south — allowing those
regions to be able to talk about their own futures, and be part of the building
block of a new democratic process in Jordan."
In January, King Abdullah announced plans to decentralise local government by
redrawing provincial administrations that are to be run by publicly elected
local councils. And in February, a 26-member Steering Committee for the National
Agenda was formed to set the guidelines for the development process during the
coming decade.
Turning to Syria, which has come under increased pressure to withdraw its troops
from Lebanon, particularly in the aftermath of the assassination of Lebanon's
former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, King Abdullah said the Syrians "obviously
have a problem with the international community concerning [UN Security Council]
Resolution 1559 that calls for a Syrian pull out of Lebanon." The King said he
hoped Damascus will deal with such issues positively and in the right direction.
Responding to a question on improving the US' image in the world, the King said
that with positive developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a negative
perception of the United States in the Middle East could change for the better.
"Obviously, a perception in the Middle East is that Israel is the only country
that holds sway in the United States. So there is a biased outlook toward the
Middle East. As a result, people feel that Palestinians have been short-changed.
But I believe that if we see movement on the Israeli-Palestinian issue and out
of Iraq, then, the views are going to change," the King said.