A new page in Iraqi- Jordanian relations

Jordanian King Abdullah II said that Jordan and Iraq have agreed to "open a new page" in their relations which have witnessed tension in the ten recent months. This was expressed during the meeting held to Amman by the Iraqi vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.

In a statement to the " Quds al-Arabi daily, the Jordanian Monarch added " the phase of tension in the Jordanian - Iraqi relations have ended " and a "new page of relations have started between the two countries."

The Jordanian King added that this tension was not because of " strategic issues." It was pertinent to a small incident as Jordan had asked one of the Iraqi officials to leave Jordan immediately. A matter which was considered by the Iraqi leadership as a big insult."

The Jordanian King added that he had made it clear to the Iraqi officials that this " Jordanian step was in the interest of Iraq because the Americans were intending to arrest this Iraqi official when he was receiving medical treatment abroad and that when he arrived in Jordan they ( the Americans ) asked for arresting him and handing him over to them, but the Jordanian government preferred that he ( the Iraqi official) to leave the country immediately to avoid any embarrassment or tension in the relations with Washington."

The paper expressed its conviction that this official is the deputy chairman of the Iraqi revolutionary leadership Council Ezzat Ibrahim who was obliged in August 1999 to shorten his medical treatment period in Austria after the American authorities asked the government of Austria to control his moves.

The Jordanian King added that his meeting on Saturday with the Iraqi vice- President Taha Yassin Ramadan was characterized by " purifying the atmospheres and frankness." A matter which resulted in eliminating the tension in the Jordanian – Iraqi relations. The King said that the strongly - backed US position to continued UN embargo imposed on Baghdad since 1990 " has been alleviated very much, recently."