Arab al-Youm: Jordan ready to dispatch forces at the request of the Governing Council

The Jordanian minister of information said yesterday that Jordan is ready to take part in sending peace keeping forces to Iraq in case the appointed Iraqi governing council asks the American occupation authorities for that.

It is, however, expected that the Jordanian King Abdullah II will meet with the US President George W. Bush on September 19th in Camp David in order to discuss the Iraqi issue and the Roadmap to peace, according to a Jordanian official yesterday.

The Jordanian daily Arab al-Youm quoted the Jordanian minister of information as saying that the "Jordanian step stipulates that the request of participation of a Jordanian peace keeping force in Iraq to come from the Iraqi governing council," adding that the government will "study the request in order to take the appropriate step in the framework of an Arab and Islamic effort."

Meantime, "After the meetings of the Arab League (AL) Follow-up Committee, I can confidently say that no peace-keeping forces will be sent to Iraq," Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told a joint press conference following talks with his Jordanian counterpart Marwan Muasher.

Commenting on reports purporting that Jordan was ready to send peace-keeping troops to Iraq, Muasher said the issue has not been discussed yet, adding that the Jordanian stance in this regard is clear.

Jordan cannot send troops under the umbrella of the occupation said Muasher, noting that Amman was, however, not asked to send troops to Iraq.

Meantime, a Jordanian official said that the King Abdullah will head after Washington, on October 1st to France in a work visit during which he will hold talks with President Jacque Chirac dealing with the situation in Iraq and recent developments in the Middle East. This visit will be preceded by meetings to be held by the Jordanian foreign minister Marwan Muasher with French officials in Paris in September 2nd.