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Neighbours must keep off Iraq, says Jordan King

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE OCT. 13. King Abdullah II of Jordan today suggested the "quickest way to get (the) foreign troops out'' of Iraq on a `realistic' basis. He was speaking on the sidelines of the East Asia Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum here.

Addressing the same concerns, the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, called for a "time table'' for establishment of a "democratically elected government'' in Baghdad so that the "foreign occupation'' could be "brought to an end as soon as possible''.

Mr. Hamid raised the issue in his opening remarks at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the member-states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) at Putrajaya in Malaysia.

To a question from The Hindu on the OIC Secretary-General's call for the `eviction' of foreign troops and the concerns about Turkey's plans to send troops to Iraq, King Abdullah, said: "It is very nice to say we want (the) troops out. But let us think realistically about how we can strengthen the Iraqi society. I think that's the quickest way to get (the) foreign troops out''. Taking "the realistic situation on the ground'' into account, the international community should be able to play a "proactive role'' so that Iraqis would be able to determine their own lives "sooner rather than later''.

The King, who will attend the OIC summit on Thursday, indirectly disapproved of the Turkish move. He said: "I don't think that any country that borders Iraq should play an active role inside of Iraq. .... We all (among Iraq's neighbours) have our agendas, I guess. .... So, we can't realistically be transparent (in action)''.

He said sending troops by Iraq's neighbours, even perhaps as peace-keepers under the U.N. auspices, would not be in the "best interests of Iraq itself''. "We can't be honest contributors simply because we all have certain bias on what we would like (to do) on the bilateral (aspects) with Iraq.''

At the OIC Foreign Ministers meet, Hamid Albar, who chaired their summit-preparatory meeting, called upon the "occupying powers'' in Iraq to accord the United Nations "the central role in assisting the Iraqi people to determine their future and in (the) reconstruction of their country''.

The OIC Secretary-General, Abdelouahed Belkeziz, called on the leaders to address the "weak and fragile'' state of the economic situation of the Islamic states, besides dealing with the political and other issues concerning Iraq and Palestine.

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