"As a woman and mother and a humanitarian, I am devastated by the impact on men, women and children in Iraq and also throughout the region," the US-born wife of the late King Hussein said on BBC television.

"So many are suffering, and their suffering has increased as a result of the tension that has built up over this war," she said as US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair continued a war summit in Northern Ireland.

Queen Noor, who is active in a number of humanitarian organizations, said Jordanians, and others in the Middle East, were still paying the economic "and to a certain extent, the political price" for the Gulf war in 1991.

"We have seen the intensification of extremism," she said. "We have seen a militant minority hijack our faith and cultural values in the eyes of the rest of the world."

In order to achieve stability in the Middle East, Queen Noor stressed the importance of resolving the long-running Israel-Palestinian conflict.

"I am hopeful," she said, "but I do not know how much suffering it will take before people realise that the only security that can exist for any state in the region is going to be built on justice and freedom, and going to have to rely on international legitimacy."

King Hussein died in February 1999, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, King Abdullah II, Queen Noor's stepson.

SPACE.WIRE