Jordan Says Will Not Help U.S. in Iraq Campaign

AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan has said it would not allow U.S. troops to be stationed on its territory to mount any attack on Iraq, its eastern neighbor and main trading partner.


"Jordan rejects the principle of interfering in the internal affairs of its brothers under any justification," Information Minister Mohammad al-Adwan told Jordan-based foreign correspondents on Monday night.

"We refuse to be a launching pad or arena for any act against our brotherly state Iraq or to use our soil and airspace to attain this objective," Adwan said.

He was responding to foreign newspaper reports that Washington already has troops in Jordanian bases as part of secret military plans to attack Baghdad.

President Bush ( news - web sites) on Monday opened wide the door to possible military action against Iraq, saying the United States would use all tools available to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites).

Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan al-Muasher called in Iraqi ambassador Sabah Yassin on Sunday to assure him the kingdom respected Iraq's sovereignty.

Leading Jordanian opposition figures have voiced concerns that Washington would pressure Jordan to use its land bases in a wide scale military offensive against Iraq.

Adwan said the Jordanian monarch had warned Bush and other world leaders in recent visits of the consequences for regional stability of an attack on Iraq.

Jordan, a major U.S. ally in the region, has been rewarded by additional economic and military assistance for its unequivocal support for the U.S. "war against terrorism" in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities.