Jordan: It depends on what you mean by cooperate
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Friday, April 13, 2001
AMMAN — Jordan has dismissed the prospect of cooperation with the
United States to maintain military sanctions on Iraq.
The Jordanian dismissal came a day after Jordan's King Abdullah met
senior U.S. officials and were said to have discussed the establishment of a
panel to stop Iraqi military imports through the Hashemite kingdom.
Jordanian Information Minister Taleb Rifai said Abdullah never agreed to
establish such a committee. On Tuesday, U.S. State Department Richard
Boucher said the king and Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed ways to
maintain restrictions on Iraq to ensure that it does not develop weapons of
mass destruction.
"We totally deny that," Rifai said. "There is no committee or any kind
of arrangements with Jordan in that respect."
Rifai said Abdullah told the Bush administration that he wants sanctions
lifted from the regime of President Saddam Hussein. Earlier, the king told
reporters in the White House that "there is still tremendous concern about a
weapons of mass destruction program. The Iraqis mentioned at the summit that
this is not their program, that they are willing to comply with the United
Nations but basically they say that there should be a reasonable approach to
limitations on weapons of mass destruction. They seem to be willing to do it
if others in the region are willing to do it too."
Last week, Iraq complained of Jordan's reported cooperation with the
United States on the issue of sanctions. The Saddam regime charged that U.S.
troops were being deployed along the Iraqi border, something denied by
Jordan.
In another development, Iraq and Syria have established a company to
develop communications and satellite services. This after, a senior Iraqi
official said the United Nations has suspended all contracts Baghdad had
signed regarding the Internet. Iraq has opened Internet centers in several
regions of the country.
Friday, April 13, 2001
|