King Abdulah: Jordan will train 30,000 Iraqis

The Jordanian King Abdulah II has called on the USA and the European Union to pressure both the Palestinian and Israeli sides to urge them to resume their negotiations. After he had ruled out sending Jordanian forces to Iraq, Abdullah announced that Jordan has received thousands of Iraqis to train them.

In a press interview, the Jordanian king said that the Palestinians are in need of the support of the international community and that the government of Ahmad Qrei should be given full authorities to preserve security. "We have to support it and the Israelis have also to provide a success for its mission," he said.

He added " we cannot say to the Palestinians, preserve peace but without giving them full authorities to run their own affairs. What is needed is that Israel to stop the policy of settlement and stop working on the separation wall and stop assassination and military operations. On the other hand, the Palestinians have to stop using violence against the Israelis."

Replying to a question on Jordan's readiness to send its ambassador to Israel to give the peace process a push, Abdulah said "should the success of peace process be linked to the return back of the Jordanian ambassador to Israel, we would send him to Israel by tomorrow."

The Jordanian king expressed his country's desire to hand over sovereignty in Iraq to the Iraqis themselves as soon as possible "because we realize that a democratic and secure Iraq will support the security and stability of the region in general." He said that Jordan is preparing to train about 30,000 Iraqi security members in Jordan in courses, with the duration of each is 8 weeks. He added that the first patch of 3,000 Iraqi security forces will arrive shortly in Jordan and there will be special training for the trainers.