King Abdullah receives Cohen
Jordan-USA, Politics, 4/5/2000

Jordan's King Abdullah II met yesterday with US Defense Secretary William Cohen.

The two discussed regional developments, especially pertaining to the Middle East peace process, the Jordanian news agency, Petra, reported, adding that King Abdullah expressed satisfaction of Jordan - US relations and praised US support for Jordan's economic and social development.

They also addressed military and defense relations, Petra said.

Cohen, currently conducting a regional tour, said yesterday in a press conference in Amman, Jordan before his meeting with King Abdullah that "Jordan is doing an outstanding job" of fighting terrorism and that he had already met with Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Rawabdeh, and the head of the Jordanian Joint Chiefs of Staffs Lt. General Muhammed General Malkawi.

Cohen referred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' efforts to help Jordan in water management projects. He added on joint cooperation between the two countries, "We're working together to modernize Jordan's military, so that Jordan can meet its security needs. This involves more of our continuing military aid, and it also involves expanded exercises and contacts. I'm particularly impressed by Jordan's increasing participation in multinational exercises and by Jordan's leading role in the cooperative defense initiative, the so-called CDI, to protect against attacks of chemical and biological weapons. We agree that our countries have to work together, to bring along just and lasting peace in the Middle East."

Cohen expressed hope that Syria and Israel would reach a peace agreement, which he said would help Jordanian-Syrian relations. Cohen said that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and US President Bill Clinton are "disappointed" over the results of the summit between Clinton and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in Geneva last month.

He called on Iraq to fully comply with UN resolutions, saying such compliance "is the best and the quickest way to help the people of Iraq. The Iraqi people are paying a very heavy price for Saddam Hussein's stubborn refusal to honor the international rules of good behavior. If the UN inspectors can confirm that Iraq stopped working on deadly chemical and biological weapons, the entire region will be much safer."

He said with respect to an Italian plane that left from Jordan for Iraq carrying European activists in defiance of sanctions that, "The sanctions need to stay in place until such time as there is full compliance of the Security Council resolutions, otherwise the Security Council Resolutions are meaningless." He said that his discussions with al-Rawabdeh addressed the issue of the sanctions on Iraq adding, "I don't think that Jordan is interested in helping to break the sanctions."

On the Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq, Cohen said, "Turkey has always been concerned with acts of terror against its own country, and that is something that they continue to fight against. Turkey is a strong ally of the United States, we respect any country's right to protect its borders, and Turkey has been doing that."

On the Jordanian military's participation in training exercises, he said, "We hope that Jordan would consider any exercises with Turkey, with Israel and the United States in the future as well as other countries. So, the more multilateral exercises the better." He added, "I think it's in Israel, Jordan and Turkey's interest and the United States to have multilateral exercises not to put pressure on anyone, but rather to train together for any future contingencies."

Previous Stories:
  US-Jordanian defense relations reviewed   (3/29/2000)
  Jordanian king confers with US congressional delegation   (3/15/2000)
  USA seeks to motivate the peace tracks in the Middle East   (2/28/2000)

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