Jordan's king in Iraq on landmark visit

From correspondents in Baghdad | August 12, 2008 KING Abdullah II of Jordan was holding talks in Baghdad today on the first visit to Iraq by an Arab head of state since the 2003 US-led invasion. The monarch went immediately on his arrival in the Iraqi capital into a meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for discussions on "the way to improve bilateral relations in all fields". "The discussion between the two parties were frank and positive, they discussed the progress made by Iraq and especially that of the Iraqi government's success in security and the future reconstruction projects," officials said. King Abdullah and his delegation had been expected to visit Iraq last month but his trip was delayed for what diplomatic sources in Amman had said were security reasons. His visit was agreed to during a visit to Amman by Mr Maliki in June to renew a 2006 deal to sell discounted oil to its neighbour, which relies on Iraq for most of its fuel needs. Washington has also been pushing its Arab allies, notably regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, to send ambassadors and high-level officials to Baghdad to help shore up support for the country's Shiite leadership. Jordan kept its embassy in Baghdad open even after the mission was attacked in August 2003, but it downgraded the level of its representation. In 2004 King Abdullah warned against the emergence in Iraq of a pro-Iranian government that would promote a "Shiite crescent" bringing together Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon -- a comment criticised by Iraqi officials. Jordan hosts between 500,000 and 750,000 Iraqi refugees who have fled violence in their war-torn country, and Amman has estimated the costs of sheltering them so far at more than $US2 billion ($2.26 billion).