AMMAN, 16 August 2007 — Jordan and Iraq ended two days of talks yesterday by setting up a joint technical committee for boosting security cooperation between the two countries, according to the Iraqi National Security Adviser Muwaffaq Rubaie.

“The panel, which comprises experts from the security and intelligence bodies as well as the Ministry of Justice in the two countries, will be assigned the duty of finding mechanism for promoting bilateral security cooperation,” Rubaie told a press conference. “The two countries also agreed to tighten security in the border area and reactivate the security agreement that was concluded between Iraq and Jordan a year ago,” he said.

“I cannot say that our discussions were easy... There were difficult issues but the brothers in Jordan made them easy and we agreed on a number of things.” “Both of us are in the same trench to fight Al-Qaeda, extremism and sectarianism,” he added.

Jordan has tightened control of its land and air borders with Iraq in the aftermath of deadly hotel attacks in 2005 carried out by Iraqi suicide bombers. Rubaie also discussed ways of easing the “hardships” of some 750,000 Iraqis who have sought refuge in Jordan from the violence in Iraq.

“We found open minds and hearts in order to support Iraq, to support the political process and to support the Iraqis who are present in Jordan,” Rubaie said. He also thanked Jordan for agreeing to allow Iraqi pupils — even those without residency permits — to enroll in state schools when the new term begins next week.

Jordanian officials have said that around 50,000 Iraqi students will be admitted in public schools for the 2007-2008 academic year.

Meanwhile, the New York-based rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed Jordan’s move in a statement yesterday but charged that Jordan was closing its borders to Iraqis fleeing violence. HRW refugee policy director Bill Frelick said, “Jordan is blocking the entry of most Iraqis attempting to flee the violence in their country and is unwilling to recognize that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis living in Jordan are, in fact, refugees.”

Earlier this month, Jordan’s Ministry of Education announced that for the first time it would open up public schools to Iraqi children, regardless of whether they possess a residency permit or not. “It is commendable that Jordanian officials are recognizing the rights of all children to education and the rights of all people, regardless of legal status, to basic health care,” said Frelick.

In the past, Iraqi children could only attend government schools if their parents had a residency permit or paid private school fees — a serious strain on the finances of the largely unemployed Iraqis. Some 50,000 Iraqi students are expected to attend Jordanian public schools, which open Sunday, according to Education Ministry official Mohammed Okour.

In their statement, Human Rights Watch estimated that there were some 200,000 school-age Iraqi children in the country, of which only 10 percent attended classes last year. Jordan and Syria host the largest propo

rtion of the more than 2 million displaced Iraqis and complain of the increasing burden on their health and education infrastructure. Smaller numbers of Iraqis are sheltering in Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey.

Jordan is trying to determine the exact number, composition and economic cost of the displaced Iraqis with assistance from the Norwegian-based Fafo Foundation. A small desert country, Jordan officially already hosts some 1.7 million Palestinians displaced not only in the Arab-Israeli wars, but also from Kuwait following the 1990 Gulf War.

Human Rights Watch accused Jordan of “virtually closing its borders and, with few exceptions, not allowing Iraqis to enter the country.”

Traffic at the once-busy Karama crossing between the two countries has practically disappeared in recent months, according to witnesses.