Jordan 'would send troops to help Iraq govt'

Jordan’s King Abdullah would be willing to send troops to help the new Iraqi government.

Marking a major shift in Jordan’s policy toward Iraq, King Abdullah II said he wanted to support Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Jordan could potentially become the first Arab state to send troops to Iraq, where Mr Allawi’s interim government assumed control from the US-led coalition this week.

“I presume that if the Iraqis ask us for help directly, it would be very difficult for us to say no,” he said in an interview yesterday with the BBC’s Newsnight programme yesterday.

“Our message to the president or the prime minister is: Tell us what you want. Tell us how we can help, and you have 110% support from us,” he said. “If we don’t stand with them, if they fail, then we all pay the price.”

Abdullah said he had not discussed sending troops with the new Iraqi government, and it was unclear if the Iraqis would take King Abdullah up on his offer.

About 160,000 foreign troops, mostly American, remain in Iraq to provide security and train Iraq’s new security services. US officials have warned that the transfer of sovereignty would not stop assaults by militants.

King Abdullah spoke on a day when US jets pounded a suspected safe house of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be behind two beheadings and a series of attacks on security forces.

The strike in Fallujah killed four people, according to a doctor in the insurgent-controlled city.

Just hours later yesterday, deposed leader Saddam Hussein appeared in a Baghdad court on charges of genocide.

And American officials believe the followers of Saddam, not al-Zarqawi, pose the greatest threat to the new government.

The US administration sees little evidence that al-Zarqawi has political support among Iraqis, a former senior CPA official told reporters in Washington.