»Jordan ready to send troops if asked...«

Jordan Ready to Send Troops to Iraq if Asked

LONDON (Reuters) - Jordan said Thursday it was willing to send troops to Iraq (news - web sites), becoming the first Arab state to do so, if Baghdad's new interim government requested it.


King Abdullah, whose country would also be the first of Iraq's neighbors to send troops, was speaking in a television interview with Britain's BBC Newsnight program. He said he had not yet discussed the issue with Iraqis.


Abdullah's comments, welcomed by U.S. officials, reflect a major shift in his country's views on the international military presence in Iraq now that Washington has handed power to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's interim government.


"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," he said.


"My message to the president and prime minister is: tell us what you want, tell us how we can help and we have 110 percent support for this," he said.