The head of the US Central Command, Gen Tommy Franks, braved heavy rain, sleet and snow to pay a low profile visit to the Jordanian capital yesterday.
Gen Franks held talks with Gen Muhammad Sarairah, the chief of staff. The Royal Court said that he did not meet with King Abdullah or the Prime Minister, Mr Ali Abu Ragheb, who also holds the defence portfolio.
The fact that this point was made shows the extreme sensitivity of Gen Franks' visit to the kingdom at this time. Gen Franks arrived on Tuesday from Cairo where he met with the Egyptian President, Mr Hosni Mubarak, and the Defence Minister, Mr Muhamad Hussein Tantawi.
Gen Franks was reportedly flying to Afghanistan before returning to his Gulf base in Qatar. King Abdullah is a staunch opponent of US military action against Iraq and has said repeatedly that he will not allow Jordan's territory to be used as a launchpad for air attacks or a ground offensive.
The govern- ment has admitted that several hundred US military personnel have come into the country to train Jordanians on recently acquired F-16 war planes purchased for Jordan's defence and on the three Patriot anti-missile systems installed here to shoot down any Iraqi Scud-B missiles bound for Israel.
US troops have been reportedly sighted in the east of country but their presence has not been officially confirmed and no mention has been made of any mission.
Opinion polls show that an overwhelming majority of Jordanians oppose war.