The King will be the first Arab leader to meet the US president since the Sept. 11 suicide plane attacks in New York and Washington that left nearly 7,000 people feared dead.

Arab and Muslim support is seen as a vital component in the building up of an international alliance to combat political violence.

Jordanian officials said the Monarch would urge Bush at their meeting on Friday to pursue a more active role to bring about permanent Middle East peace.

“We need a more active involvement by the United States in the peace-making efforts to help reach an acceptable and a permanent settlement,” Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib told Reuters. “It will make the goal of defeating terrorism more attainable.”

He said the King would argue that giving more attention to addressing the root cause of conflict in the region — the Palestinian issue — would help the US fight by disarming Islamist militants of the most potent weapon they exploit to gain popularity and legitimacy.

“To succeed in combating terrorism we have to address the root cause ... We all know the main source of grievance is the despair that prevails with failure to satisfy the national rights of Palestinians,” Khatib said.

“You need to deprive the terrorists of a fertile ground,” he said.

Vote of confidence

The Monarch has sought to put Jordan at the forefront of moderate Arab states behind Bush's proclaimed war on terrorism, whose targets include Afghanistan-based prime suspect Osama Ben Laden.

In a show of support for Jordan's steadfast backing, the US Senate on Monday approved a Free Trade Agreement with Jordan that would underpin its economic prospects and stability.

“This is a very, very strong vote of confidence in Jordan and the Jordanian economy,” Khatib said.

The government has to tread carefully as anti-US sentiment has hardened since a year-long Palestinian uprising against occupation by Israel. The Jewish state is seen as having Washington's full backing.

The Monarch's message in Washington is that the US fight should not fall into the hands of Islamist militants who seek to pit the conflict as a war between the West and Islam.

“This is not a confrontation between civilisations. It is a confrontation between the whole civilised world and this evil enemy,” Khatib said, echoing the monarch's view.

Meanwhile, The Jordan News Agency Petra correspondent in Peshawar, Zakaria Sheikh, on Wednesday reported that Pakistani newspapers yesterday highlighted the content of a telephone call made by King Abdullah to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

The News, headlining its story saying “King of Jordan stresses support to Musharraf, said King Abdullah ,who telephoned Musharraf on Tuesday, expressed his full support of Pakistan's efforts in its fight against terrorism.

The newspaper also reported that King Abdullah and Musharraf discussed the current situation and the determination of the international community to fight terrorism in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

King Abdullah, who described Jordanian-Pakistani relations as brotherly, solid and well founded, emphasised that these relations will become stronger in the future.

For his part, Musharraf expressed his appreciation of the Jordanian stance, calling on the Islamic world to collaborate and unify its efforts to be able to confront the present challenges.

Back to September 27, 2001