Jordan's Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb said Friday on return from a groundbreaking visit to Iraq, which produced a new oil deal between the two countries that his trip had been "very successful."
The visit, the first by air to sanctions-hit Iraq by an Arab head of government since before the Gulf War a decade ago, saw the two sides sign an accord providing Jordan with five million tons of Iraqi oil at 20 dollars a barrel in 2001.
The current arrangement for 2000 provides for 4.8 million tons to be delivered to Jordan at 16 dollars a barrel.
"The price is slightly higher but there are some positive aspects," Abu Ragheb said.
Jordan will export 400 million dollars worth of goods to Iraq next year, compared with 300 million under this year's deal, he added.
"The visit was very successful and the results of the work of the joint committee (which had not met since 1989) will have a very positive impact on economic and commercial cooperation," Abu Ragheb said.
Asked about resuming regular air links between Amman and Baghdad, which could run foul of the United Nations, the Jordanian prime minister said the question was discussed but needed more study.
Earlier in Baghdad he said the two countries had also signed an agreement to build an oil pipeline 750 kilometers (450 miles) long to connect the Iraqi city of Haditha with a refinery near Amman.
The project is expected to cost around 350 million dollars. At present Iraqi oil is sent to Jordan in tanker trucks.
Jordan was one of the few Arab countries sympathetic to Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf conflict, but relations plummeted in the mid-1990s as Jordan, which also has good ties with the United States, hosted Iraqi dissidents on its soil.
Relations have been improving since July, when Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan visited Amman.
Last month Abu Ragheb called on British insurers Lloyd's to halt its inspections of Iraq-bound imports at the Jordanian port of Aqaba, in a decision hailed by Baghdad.
On September 27 Jordan became the first Arab country to defy the 10-year-old UN air ban imposed on Iraq when it flew a humanitarian plane to Baghdad.
Iraq wants commercial airlines to resume regular service between Baghdad and Amman, arguing that no UN resolution prohibits such flights.
Jordan filed an official request to the UN in September for a resumption of Baghdad-Amman flights – AMMAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
