Jordan feels heat from Iraq
over cooperation with U.S.

AMMAN — Jordan is under pressure by President Saddam Hussein to defy U.S. efforts to tighten restrictions on weapons imports to Iraq.

Jordanian officials acknowledge that Iraq is dismayed by renewed cooperation between Amman and Washington that would tighten supervision on exports bound for Iraq. This includes exports deemed as dual-use.

On Wednesday, Jordan and the United States agreed to establish a panel of experts to determine efforts to increase supervision of goods bound for Iraq that enter the Jordanian port of Aqaba. The experts would include other neighbors of Iraq such as Turkey and Syria. Iran might come in at a later date, diplomatic sources said.

Jordan wants Congress to ratify a free trade agreement between Amman and Washington. U.S. aid to Amman is expected to lead the agenda of talks between King Abdullah and President George Bush in Washington on Tuesday.

Iraqi officials are accusing Jordan of allowing the Bush administration to deploy U.S. troops along the border with Iraq. Last week, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said the the troops have already arrived.

The Hashemite kingdom has denied the presence of U.S. troops or equipment. But officials were eager to play down any dispute with neighboring Iraq.

"We in Jordan have no intention to have our relations with Iraq turn against the interests of our two countries," Jordanian Information Minister Taleb Rifai said.

Jordan's King Abdullah has met U.S. officials and agreed to discuss ways to tighten the military embargo on Iraq. In his meeting with Abdullah this week, Secretary of State Colin Powell proposed the stationing United Nations monitors along the border with Iraq.

"They agreed that there should be some expert discussions in the coming weeks," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.