Jordan Times
Friday, July 28, 2006
‘Jordan willing to renew bid to host Iraqi reconciliation talks’
By Khaled Nuaimat with agency dispatches
KING ABDULLAH ON Thursday said Jordan was ready to renew its invitation to Iraqi
leaders to gather at a postponed reconciliation conference in Amman.
The King told Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Maliki at a meeting in Aqaba that Jordan
was willing to help Iraqis achieve security and stability through ensuring
concord among their society’s components, which, he said, should be part of the
neighbouring country’s political process, the Jordan News Agency, Petra,
reported.
The conference, which was due to be held in April, was postponed due to the
Iraqi elections. The King offered to coordinate the event with the Iraqi
government.
King Abdullah stressed that it was in the interest of Jordan and the entire
region to back Iraq’s security and stability. He renewed the Kingdom’s support
for government efforts to control all Iraqi territories and national
reconciliation drive Maliki was leading.
On Thursday, the Monarch said Jordan’s focus on domestic issues does not impede
the country’s support for Arab causes.
“Our preoccupation with national causes will not be at the expense of our
commitment to our nationalistic and historic responsibilities towards our
brethren in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq; this is a natural continuation of our
role as Hashemites throughout history,” he told the closing session of the “We
are All Jordan” Forum (see the official translation of his remarks and a related
report).
During the meeting, the King reiterated condemnation of all acts of terror and
said terrorists seek to maintain chaos, violence and turbulence in Iraq and the
entire region.
On bilateral relations, the King and Maliki said they were keen to boost such
ties, particularly economic and oil fields. The King and the Iraqi premier also
discussed the situation in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories and called
for an immediate ceasefire.
Maliki, on his part, described ties with Jordan as strategic, stressing that
cooperation with Jordan and other Arab countries would greatly help rebuild his
country.
The premier briefed the King on his talks in the US and Britain. In Amman,
Maliki told a joint press conference with Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit that he
raised with the King the possible extradition of Saddam Hussein’s eldest
daughter, Raghad, the Associated Press reported. Jordan would “take action
against anybody who is proved to use the Kingdom as a launchpad against the
security of Iraq”, Maliki was told by the King.
Raghad was recently listed as one of Iraq’s 41 most wanted people. The Iraqi
government suspects her of playing a role in the insurgency, but Jordan says it
has no evidence of that. The government said Raghad and her children live in
Jordan for humanitarian reasons and are guests of King Abdullah.
He said Jordanian and Iraqi security teams would meet soon to devise a plan to
enhance border control.
“It is necessary to reinforce border security because there are parties
operating in either country that harm the other.”
Maliki also said officials of both countries would discuss means to provide
Jordan with oil at preferential prices.
He did not elaborate.
Bakhit, meanwhile, reiterated Jordan’s support for Iraq’s reconciliation
efforts.
“Jordan would introduce new practical steps to support the political process in
Iraq,” Bakhit said, but gave no further details.