| Jordan urged that Iraqi elections proceed as scheduled and called on all Iraqis to seize a "golden opportunity" and go to the polls Jan. 30 to elect an assembly that will write a constitution. Jordan had previously backed postponing the elections, but Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani al-Mulqi opened a meeting Thursday of foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors by urging there be no delay in the landmark ballot. "From this podium, I call on all factions of the Iraqi people, young and old, men and women, to go to the polls to choose their representatives and draw their own future," Al-Mulqi said. Failing to do that "will leave the door open for others to choose for them." The vote, he said, is "a golden opportunity for all Iraqi men and women to contribute to putting Iraq on the right track, to build the state of law and return security and stability." In communiques, the foreign ministers agreed to "respect" the "principles of noninterference in (Iraq's) internal affairs" and said they "stood strongly behind the interim government." They also condemned all terrorist attacks in Iraq. |