BAGHDAD, 11 September 2005 — Jordan’s premier met in Baghdad yesterday with his Iraqi counterpart, on the highest-profile visit from his country since the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein and marking a thaw in strained relations. In a press conference with Iraq’s Ibrahim Jaafari, Adnan Badran stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation and emphasized the strong position of Iraq within the Arab world.
Badran said “we will not leave Iraq alone. We will continue to support the unity of Iraq’s people and its territory.” He said the common borders with Iraq were secured and that “security and stability in Iraq are linked to the security and stability of Jordan.”
At the same time, he said “we discussed reactivating common committees to strengthen commercial and economic relations... Iraq is a brotherly country, and an important part of the region’s history.” Jaafari praised Badran’s visit as “a new and sharp turn in the relations between the two countries.” Ties have been strained since Saddam’s ouster.
Jordanian King Abdallah had voiced concern that the empowerment of Iraq’s long oppressed Shiite majority might open the way to greater Iranian influence in the Arab world. And Iraq’s Shiite-led government has in turn complained of the number of Jordanians fighting alongside Sunni insurgents, including Iraq’s most wanted man, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.
Among other issues raised was a plan to build a railway from the Red Sea port of Aqaba to Baghdad, Badran told reporters after talks at which he also confirmed that Amman has appointed a full ambassador to Iraq.
Jaafari said: “This visit means a great deal to us and marks a great political turning point. I call on all the Arab states to follow the Jordanian initiative. Today’s visit has broken a barrier and sent a political message.”
Jaafari’s Shiite Muslim-led government has been critical of other Arab states, mostly dominated by Sunnis, for what it says is their failure to prevent Islamist guerrillas from coming to Iraq and their reluctance to establish full diplomatic relations.
For their part, many Arab governments, including US ally Jordan, have been wary of the new Iraqi administration’s close ties to Washington and to non-Arab, Shiite Iran.
Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi told a separate news conference that the Jordanian envoy would return with the full rank of ambassador, something few other Arab diplomats have. Badran said new security measures would be introduced at the Iraq-Jordan border to ease trade between the two countries.
He added that, in the longer term, the two governments had agreed on a project to build a railway to Baghdad from Aqaba, a developing port on Jordan’s Red Sea coast.
