 AMMAN/Baghdad - Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday on a previously unannounced visit, official sources said in Amman. The sources said the visit, coming three weeks after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki met with King Abdullah II in Amman, was aimed at boosting bilateral ties and looking into prospects of resuming Iraqi oil supplies to cash-strapped Jordan.
The Amman leaders were to conduct discussions focusing on issues of mutual Jordanian-Iraqi concern including bilateral relations and cooperation on the political, economic, and national security levels. The delegation also includes JordanÂ’s ministers of the interior, foreign affairs, industry, trade, mineral resources, and energy.
Jordan, which imports its oil from international markets at world market rates, hopes to buy Iraqi crude at preferential rates, similar to the arrangement with Saddam Hussein before his ouster in 2003. The kingdomÂ’s oil bill now devours more than 20 per cent of the budget.
| I don't see the Iraqis giving their oil away to anyone. |
| maybe not, but Jordan was enormously helpful in the overthrow of Saddam and - importantly - has continued to allow various useful things to transit their border since, I suspect. I wouldn't be surprised if some deal was cut. OTOH with the bazaar haggling still going on inside Iraq itself re: the oil and the govt, who knows? |
| I'm not sure the word 'gratitude' translates into Arabic. And the Iraqis need cold, hard dinars to rebuild their country. Some sort of temporary discount? Maybe, but the kinds of deals that Saddam made are a thing of the past, I'm guessing. |
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