Jordan's king, Mubarak meet for talks on halting chaos in Iraq

CAIRO (AFP) Apr 14, 2003
Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened talks here Monday on efforts to put a halt to the chaos in Iraq following the fall of Saddam Hussein, the president's office said.

Their talks were focused on "the need to put a halt to the chaos in Iraq, to restore order and form an interim government", it said.

Mubarak's office said they were also discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the need to implement the internationally-backed peace roadmap aimed at establishing a Palestinian state by 2005.

The king's delegation included his brother Prince Ali, Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb and Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher.

Arab countries are concerned that the current unrest in post-Saddam Iraq could deteriorate into a full-fledged civil war and spread to other states in the Arab world.

The foreign ministers of countries neighbouring Iraq are to meet in Riyadh on Friday to review the fallout of the war, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said.

Amid the preparations, Prince Saud visited Damascus on Monday to discuss Iraqi security and sovereignty with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

SPACE.WIRE