Jordan will send ambassador to Iraq

The 2003 car bombing, above, outside the Jordan Embassy in Baghdad forced the Jordanian mission to reduce its staff to just one diplomat.

AMMAN // Jordan plans to send an ambassador to Iraq this month after an absence of five years, the latest Arab country to renew ties with Baghdad in an effort to stabilise the country and counter the growing influence of Iran. Nayef al Zaidan, who served as a consul in the UAE for two years, was officially named as the top envoy to Iraq in June and is expected to head the Jordan Embassy in Baghdad late this month, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

"A 10-member diplomatic team will leave for Baghdad ? ahead of the ambassador who is waiting for an appointment in order to submit his credentials to the Iraqi president," the spokesman said. A suicide attack against its embassy in 2003 killed 14 people ? including one Jordanian - and injured dozens more, forcing Jordan to dramatically downsize its mission in Iraq to just one diplomat. Jordan, however, has retained a mobile military hospital in Fallujah, 100km east of Baghdad.

The United States has urged Iraq's Sunni neighbours to support the government of Nouri al Maliki, the prime minister, by scrapping Iraq's debts and resuming diplomatic ties that were on hold for the past few years, due to the security situation and the influence of Iran. Amman's political openness towards Baghdad coincides with recent moves taken by other Arab countries to renew relations with Iraq.

The UAE and Bahrain have decided to appoint ambassadors to Baghdad. The UAE has also scrapped Iraq's nearly US$7 billion (Dh25.7bn) debt, while Saudi Arabia said it will consider cancelling 80 per cent of its debt. "Resuming contacts with Iraq and having a constructive dialogue with the Iraqi government, despite the reservations Arab countries have towards Iraq, will bring the country back to the Arab world," said Fares Braizat, deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan. "And the Iraqi public opinion also supports an official Arab policy that seeks to preserve the unity and sovereignty of Iraq. But such position needs to be translated in to policies on the ground."

King Abdullah II, who visited Iraq on Aug 11, stressed his willingness to support the security and stability of Iraq and urged Arab countries to extend a helping hand to the government at this critical time, a palace statement said. He also described the appointment of an ambassador to Iraq, as a "boost to bilateral ties". Jordan is keen to see a stable Iraq and has expressed its concerns against a hasty withdrawal of US troops that could give further rise to Iranian influence in the region. It is also hoping that once stability is restored, the estimated 500,000 to 750,000 Iraqi refugees straining Jordan's infrastructure will start to return home.

"We are worried that an uncalculated US withdrawal from Iraq will complicate things on the ground and would push Iraq further towards Iran. Or in the best-case scenario, it would create a situation that is similar to Lebanon, where a party allied to Iran will lead its polices," Mohammad Momani, a professor of political science at Yarmouk University, said. "Therefore, supporting the legitimacy of the Iraqi government through diplomatic and political means will ward off the Iranian influence that is expected to fill the vacuum once the US forces withdraw from Iraq," he said.

But still there is resentment among Jordan's professional unions, dominated by Islamists and leftists, against renewing diplomatic ties with Iraq, while it is still under US occupation. Many see the US as an occupying force and the government of Mr Maliki as its puppet. "We do not see in any case that we should be dealing with a government that gave legitimacy to the US occupation. The priority for the resistance is to drive the occupation out from Iraq," Maisara Malas, the head of the freedom committee at Jordan's Engineering Association, said.

But some commentators said Arab countries would have to engage with Iraq if they wanted to bring about change. "The [Jordanian] king's visit should be a leading step to all other Arab leaders. It is not possible that Arabs remain as spectators and observers to the violence in Iraq ? which will only reinforce sectarianism," Ahmad Shaker, a commentator, wrote for Addustour daily. "Everyone knows what the ramifications will be on the security of Arab countries."

Jordan also hopes to revive trade ties with Iraq, formerly a major trade partner that provided it with oil, half of it for free and the rest at preferential prices based on a UN sponsored oil-for-food programme. Iraq has agreed to ease the flow of cheaper oil to Jordan based on 2006 agreement that was renewed between both countries during Mr Maliki's visit to Jordan two months ago. @Email:[e-mail]