Egypt, Yemen, and Jordan deny to have got US messages about Iraq

Jordan, Yemen and Egypt have denied receiving messages from the USA asking for whether the three states are ready to cooperate in a likely war against Iraq.

Replying to a question raised by journalists to this effect, the Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Maher denied that and said that "he never heard of such an issue." The al-Jazeera TV said that the US sent several messages to 11 Arab states including Egypt, asking them whether they are ready to cooperate in case a crisis erupts with Iraq, giving these Arab states, a grace period of one month to answer.

The US Department of State announced on Monday that the US contacted 50 countries with the aim of forming an alliance against the regime of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein without disclosing the names of these countries.

Yesterday, the Jordanian minister of information Muhammad al-Edwan denied receiving messages from the US inquiring about the extent of its readiness to cooperate in a likely war against Iraq. He said " we have not received any request to this effect and we know nothing about this matter." Meantime, a Yemeni official source denied information about Sanaa receiving similar messages from the USA.