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Jordan denies US pressure to cut ties with Iraq

AMMAN: Jordan denied on Saturday that it was being pressured by the United States to cut trade relations with Iraq.

"While media reports emanating from the U.S. capital have spoken of pressure being exerted in Jordan to cut its economic and trade ties with Iraq, the government would like to affirm that no such pressure has been exerted," said a Jordanian government source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. government said on Friday it would like Jordan to stop buying Iraqi oil, one of Baghdad's few economic links to the outside world. U.S. officials discussed the issue with King Hussein on Thursday.

"Jordan will not do anything to jeopardise its own strategic and economic interests nor to add to the suffering of the Iraqi people," the Jordanian official said.

"Jordan's policy vis-a-vis the situation in Iraq has always been and remains consistent and in line with the overall objective of preserving Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity and bringing about a speedy end to the terrible suffering and hardship of the Iraqi people," the official said.

The current flurry of activity around Iraq was triggered by Jordan's decision to grant asylum this month to high-level defectors from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's inner circle.

Jordan was one of the few Middle East countries to sympathise with Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait but has since distanced itself from Baghdad.-Reuter