Powell, Jordan's King Abdullah discuss mideast

US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Jordan's King Abdullah held discussions in Washington January 31 about the situation in the Middle East, attempts to secure a cease-fire and resume negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, the campaign against terror and Afghanistan, Powell said.

Powell said the Bush administration is working in as balanced a way as it can with Israelis and Palestinians to establish a cease-fire and reopen negotiations. He said retired General Anthony Zinni will be sent back to the region when violence is lower to try to help the parties negotiate a cease-fire.

The secretary repeated that the United States is working for the establishment of a Palestinian state that would live in peace and security next to Israel.

At the moment, the Bush administration is "applying some additional pressure" on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to try to get him to deal with increasing violence and to explain the Karine A ship incident involving an attempt to smuggle weapons into the region, Powell said.

US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said "They also talked about Iraq. They talked about the need for Iraq to comply fully with all the United Nations resolutions. And that is a determination from our side. That is the determination from the Jordanian side as well." Boucher was asked "Could you clarify -- you may have said this before, but what is the US position now regarding the Iraqi National Congress, given that Mr. Chalabi is a criminal -- considered a criminal in Jordan?"

Boucher replied "Nothing like that was discussed here. And I think you know that we are funding the Iraqi National Congress, and I think we had information yesterday, in fact, about the new funding that we are providing."