King Abdullah of Jordan said in an interview published today it would be a "tremendous mistake" for the United States to ignore warnings from its allies against a war on Iraq.
"Everybody is saying this is a bad idea," King Abdullah said in an interview with the Washington Post. "If it seems America says we want to hit Baghdad, that's not what Jordanians think, or the British, the French, the Russians, the Chinese and everybody else".
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Mr Abdullah told the newspaper he was concerned an invasion of Iraq could splinter the country and spread conflict across the Middle East.
He said some allies may have been reluctant to speak out because many believed the prospect of war was far in the distance. "All of the sudden this thing is moving to the horizon much closer than we believed," he said.
In Washington for a meeting with President Bush, the king said he would urge the administration to focus first on advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
He dismissed the view of some US officials that a democratic Iraq would lead to better prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"In an ideal world, that could be a possibility," he said. "Life being as it is, and so uncertain, very few people are convinced that that attitude would happen so easily. Our concern is exactly the opposite, that a miscalculation in Iraq would throw the whole area into turmoil."
The Jordanian leader also told the newspaper he found "somewhat amusing" reports that US military planners were considering Jordan as a staging area for forces fighting Iraq.