Jordan Times
Monday, April 5, 2004
Prime minister receives Iraqi energy minister
AMMAN (JT) — Prime Minister Faisal Fayez on
Sunday discussed “issues of common concern” with Iraqi Minister of Energy Ayham
Samarrai, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Azmi Khreisat also attended the
meeting.
Earlier this year, a coordination office to handle electricity cooperation
between Jordan and Iraq was officially opened. The office, located in the
National Electric Power Company, provides local and foreign investors with
information on the present and future needs of Iraq's electricity sector, in
addition to projects under implementation.
Jordan is currently part of an electric inter-connectivity project linking the
Kingdom with Egypt. The project is scheduled to extend in the future to include
Syria, Lebanon and Turkey.
Parts of western Iraq would be fed by electricity supplied by Egypt via the
Jordanian grid, officials announced then, while they studied prospects of direct
electricity feed from Jordan to Iraq.
Also on Sunday, the prime minister met with World Islamic Call Society Secretary
General Mohammad Ahmad Sherif.
Fayez stressed the need to communicate Arab Islamic viewpoints to the West, with
the specific aim of demonstrating the true nature of Islam as a faith of
tolerance.
He warned against terms widely used by the Western media like “Islamic
terrorism.” This necessitates dialogue to clarify the true picture of the
Islamic culture, he said. Sherif highlighted the importance of dialogue as a
means of conveying the message on such issues. He pointed out the role of the
World Islamic Call Society, established in the early 1970s, in facing radical
approaches.