Jordanian king gets message from Hussein, Premier starts visit to Baghdad

The Jordanian King Abdullah II on Wednesday received a message from the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, handed over by the Jordanian Foreign minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf.

Meantime, the plane of the Jordanian prime minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb landed on Wednesday at Saddam's International airport in a first visit by an Arab official to Iraq at this level since 1990.

Iraq's ambassador in Amman Sabah Yassin said the message, handed over by al-Sahaf, who held later separate talks with the Jordanian foreign minister Abdul Illah al-Khatib, dealt with bilateral relations and means of backing the palestinian uprising.

The Jordanian official news agency said that Saddam Hussein's message expressed the esteem appreciation of the Iraqi people to the efforts made by Jordan to lift the sanctions and alleviate the sufferings of the Iraqi people.

However, al- Sahaf's visit to Amman, coincided with the visit started by the Jordanian prime minister to Iraq on top of a high ranking delegation including 7 ministers and a large press delegation to hold talks concentrating on renewing the agreement provides for providing Jordan with oil at a cost of US $ 600 million, half of which is for free, while the second amount will be at preferential prices.

During the visit talks will deal with financing a project to erect an oil pipeline from Iraq to Jordan at a cost of US $ 350 million.

As from next week weekly air flights will start between Amman and Baghdad, after Jordan had sent the first Arab plane to break the embargo on Iraq by the end of September.