U.S. works with Jordan to crack down on Iraqi imports

WASHINGTON Ñ The United States is working with Jordan to improve inspections of Iraqi-bound cargo arriving in the southern port of Aqaba. The cooperation was reaffirmed by the Hashemite kingdom and the Bush administration during the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to Amman last month. Washington has failed to obtain Jordan's approval to agree to the arrival of independent inspectors in Aqaba.

Late last year, Jordan cancelled a contract by the London-based Lloyd's Register to inspect cargo bound for Iraq. Jordan then said it would assume the inspections at the Aqaba port.

"My understanding is the Jordanian customs service is handling the inspections now, and we have worked with them over time to try to help them make sure they have an effective and complete inspection," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Lloyd's angered the Iraqis when an inspection detected equipment that could be used in producing fissile material for nuclear weapons. The equipment was confiscated and relayed to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.

In the early 1990s, the United States approved Lloyd's inspections after British and U.S.

naval vessels stopped cargo -- bound for Israel and Jordan -- that sailed in the Straits of Tiran.

For his part, Powell said the Bush administration will intensify efforts to deny weapons and components for weapons of mass destruction to Iraq. "We will keep them from developing their military capability again, just the way we have for the last 10 years," Powell said. "But we will not be the ones to blame because the Iraqi people, it is claimed, are not getting what they need to take care of their children or to take care of their needs."