RIYADH, 5 February 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and King Abdallah of Jordan here yesterday held talks on measures to avert a US-led war on Iraq, a Jordanian diplomatic source said.
The two men discussed “the effects on Jordan of a war against Iraq, notably concerning its impact on supplies of oil to Jordan,” which depends on its eastern neighbor for its fuel needs, the source added. It was the Jordanian monarch’s second visit to Saudi Arabia in a month and came as the US intensified threats to attack Iraq.
King Abdallah has repeatedly warned that war in Iraq would impose great hardship on the countries of the Middle East but recently acknowledged that it might be too late to secure a diplomatic understanding between Iraq and the US.
