Thread: Jordan ready to send Iraq troops

Jordan ready to send Iraq troops

Jordan would consider sending troops to Iraq if the new interim government asked, King Abdullah has told the BBC.
"If the Iraqis ask us for help directly it will be very difficult for us to say no," he said on Newsnight.

King Abdullah emphasised that he did not feel the Jordanians were the right people to bring Iraq security and said the issue had not even been discussed.

Nonetheless King Abdullah is the first Arab leader to even consider sending troops to Iraq.

Reluctance

"My position has been beforehand not to send troops... because of Jordanian history with Iraq," he said.

"I felt that all countries that surround Iraq have their own agendas, so maybe we're not the right people to go in for the job."

"However, now there's an interim government and, we hope, a fully independent process very soon in Iraq. I presume, if the Iraqis ask us for help directly it will be very difficult for us to say no," the king added.

"Again, I would feel that we are not the right people. But at the end of the day, if there is something that we can provide, a service to the future of Iraqis then we will definitely study that proposal."

Read the rest here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3858883.stm