Relations between Amman and Baghdad very tense

A Jordanian source described relations between Amman and Baghdad as "very critical and difficult" following the open Iraqi criticism of a political speech read by Jordanian Crown Prince Hassan at the inauguration of the meetings of the Arab Parliamentary Union in Amman last Sunday.

The source told the London-based "al-Quds al-Arabi" daily that Amman is no longer able to understand what it has to do on the Iraqi level. The source indicated that the past two days have witnessed great tension after Amman asked for Iraqi explanations of accusations made by Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz against Crown Prince Hassan.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government on Saturday informed its Jordanian counterpart that exports of Iraqi oil will not be, at any rate, affected by political disputes between the two states.

Within the past few days, high-ranking officials in Baghdad and Amman exchanged their most pointed accusations since 1996.