U.S. Skeptical of Jordan Pledge on Embargo

President Bush, after an emergency meeting Thursday with Jordan’s King Hussein, said he was “very pleased” by a renewed Jordanian pledge to honor the U.N. embargo against Iraq, but Administration officials privately expressed fear that the king may still help Iraq obtain basic foodstuffs and other vital material.

King Hussein, whose country is economically dependent on neighboring Iraq, has been a reluctant supporter of the U.N. sanctions from the beginning. And, while reaffirming his willingness to abide by U.N. policy after meeting in Kennebunkport with Bush, Hussein indicated that he may allow material classified as “humanitarian” to reach Iraq through Jordan.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, for the first time issued detailed, formal orders to U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf region to intercept all ships and cargoes bound to or from Iraq or Kuwait. The orders provide Navy commanders with explicit guidelines for enforcing the “interdiction” policy announced by Bush after the United Nations imposed sanctions on Iraqi trade last week.

The orders will cover the Jordanian port of Aqaba, Pentagon sources said.

Aqaba, at the northern end of the Red Sea, has become a critical element in the U.S.-led international effort to pressure Iraq into retreat from Kuwait. Although the port is in Jordan, it serves as a main conduit for goods destined for Iraq.

Officials acknowledged that Aqaba poses a particularly difficult problem for Bush because it is not only a transshipment point for Baghdad but also the sole port of entry for Jordan itself. And Jordan, under Hussein, is America’s oldest Arab ally in the Middle East.

Reflecting the pivotal nature of Jordan’s role and the vulnerability of the king’s position, Bush publicly put a bright face on their meeting, saying: “The differences that possibly existed with Jordan have been narrowed.”

Nonetheless, Administration officials conceded that serious questions remain about the role King Hussein will play in the mounting confrontation with Iraq.

“We leaned on him and he promised, but there’s little doubt that he’s playing for time. He was in a no-win situation before, and now it’s even worse,” one Administration official said.

The king, his demeanor tense and serious as he emerged from his two-hour session with Bush, refused to say whether he would close Aqaba to Iraqi commerce. “This is a question of detail. The government is dealing with it,” was all he would say on the matter.

Hussein had come to Kennebunkport hoping to serve as an intermediary in a diplomatic solution to the gulf crisis triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait two weeks ago, sources close to the monarch said. But Bush made it clear that the United States sees no basis for negotiation until Iraq pulls out its forces.

Sources said King Hussein would not give up attempts to find middle ground. “He feels we are now in a tunnel and that he is the only light in that tunnel,” a knowledgeable source said. But Arab diplomats acknowledged that prospects for a quick diplomatic solution are diminishing.

“I think we’re in for the long haul,” said a State Department official. “Now it’s all up to Saddam Hussein,” the president of Iraq.

Bush, after his meeting with King Hussein, met separately with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal. Later, the Saudi official provided reporters with a decidedly pessimistic assessment of the Middle East crisis.

“We still hope that conflict can be avoided but . . . if, and only if, Iraq withdraws from Kuwait,” the Saudi foreign minister said just before leaving Kennebunkport.

And Bush, at a news conference after the two meetings, declared: “We’re in sync with the Saudis.”

The Pentagon’s “intercept” directives were sent just hours after Bush bid goodby to King Hussein.

Officials said the Pentagon had sent an earlier set of orders to ships Wednesday night, but Bush’s political advisers hurriedly withdrew them, fearing that their dissemination during Hussein’s visit with the President would embarrass the Jordanian monarch.

Bush Administration lawyers refined the orders throughout the day Thursday, but a senior Pentagon official said Hussein’s pledge had not affected the wording of the orders.

By using the term “intercept,” the Pentagon’s directive legally falls short of a blockade--potentially an act of war against Iraq. But U.S. warships are authorized to stop and board ships headed in the direction of ports supplying Iraq and to “use the minimum force necessary . . . to turn away or otherwise divert” ships carrying goods to Iraq.

The Pentagon said all ships destined for Iraq or Kuwait would be stopped and boarded and diverted if necessary. In addition, the Pentagon said U.S. ships would be permitted to intercept vessels traveling to or from ports of other Middle East countries and carrying material destined for or originating from Iraq or Kuwait.

In the case of ships entering or leaving the Gulf of Aqaba, a senior Pentagon official said the commander of a U.S. Navy ship would be permitted to judge whether vessels are carrying goods bound for Iraq or Kuwait.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that it is sending a 15,000-man Marine Expeditionary Brigade to Saudi Arabia, which will bring the Marine presence there to more than 45,000. Thirteen amphibious ships pulled out of the Navy’s port at Norfolk, Va., to pick up the Marines, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

When they arrive in the Persian Gulf in a little over two weeks, the Marines, equipped with more than 50 tanks and a host of armored vehicles and howitzers, would be able to fight their way ashore if Iraqi and American forces in Saudi Arabia are engaged in combat.

Two more Marine brigades--roughly 30,000 troops--are on alert and ready for possible deployment to Saudi Arabia. The addition of those brigades, including one from Camp Pendleton, could bring the Marine presence to 75,000, although officials said no final decision has been made to send the remaining units.

A day after sending dozens of its high-tech F-117 Stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, the Air Force announced that it also has sent some of its A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, specially designed as tank killers.

In addition, Bush said that he is continuing to consider a limited call-up of military reserves. But Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said that any such call-up would probably involve a limited number of part-time soldiers whose specialties are in short supply in the active-duty forces.

In addition to the meetings with King Hussein and the Saudi foreign minister, Bush spoke by telephone Thursday with President Turgut Ozal of Turkey and with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Bush told Mubarak of Hussein’s statement of support for the U.N. sanctions, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said.

The meetings in Maine reflected the Administration’s efforts to maintain as much support among the Arab states as possible. But there was no outward sign of success, with the expressions on the faces of the officials uniformly serious and tense.

Using the accepted diplomatic parlance that often conveys a failure to bridge differences, it was, Hussein said, “a very frank, open and candid discussion.”

The king told reporters that no agreements had been reached. Nor, he said, had he carried any message from Saddam Hussein, with whom he visited in Baghdad earlier in the week.

Asked whether he had any reason for hope, he replied, without much animation: “I suppose one has to have hope. Without hope you can’t get anywhere.”

Hussein arrived at Bush’s 11-acre compound at Walker’s Point at midday, accompanied by Secretary of State James A. Baker III, aboard a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter that carried him from Pease Air Force Base. He said that he planned to return to Jordan after the meeting.

Bush and the king met first in private and then--over lunch--in an expanded conference with six advisers each.

Faisal arrived about 30 minutes after Hussein had departed. He was greeted by Baker and walked immediately toward Bush’s home.

The concern about the port of Aqaba reflects even broader questions about adherence to the U.N. sanctions, imposed by a 13-0 vote of the Security Council on Aug. 6.

The sanctions are the centerpiece of an international effort, spearheaded by Bush, to squeeze Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (no relation to King Hussein) into submission, and Jordan’s compliance with the sanctions is crucial.

“I was very pleased that King Hussein, who previously had announced his support for sanctions . . . reiterated that to me, making clear that this was a decision that Jordan had taken some time ago,” Bush told reporters at a news conference on his lawn moments after the second of the two meetings ended.

But that was not the impression left by King Hussein in his brief comments to reporters while Bush was preparing to receive Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister.

He said his nation had stated “very clearly at the very outset . . . that it regarded these mandatory sanctions and measures as ones that the government of Jordan would respect. And this has been the case.”

But he said Jordan is seeking clarification about whether the embargo includes food. “I believe there are certain categories or areas where the situation is unclear,” he said.

Bush, however, has been adamant on that point. On Sunday, the President said tersely that the embargo includes “everything, everything.” Later, his spokesman said that medical supplies are exempt.

Baker said Wednesday that King Hussein, in stating that he was seeking clarification from the United Nations about the scope of the sanctions, “meant . . . that there is a provision in the sanctions that permits food for humanitarian purposes.”

“There’s really been no definition of exactly when that triggers and what that means,” Baker said.

The question--central to the opposition to Saddam Hussein--is more important for Jordan than any other embargo participant.

Jordan finds itself squeezed on both ends, caught by its economic reliance on trade with Iraq as well as by diplomatic pressure from the West, with which it has long sought to get along as a representative of the more moderate Arab states.

“Jordan’s main exports are to Iraq--over $2 billion (a year). Our oil imports are from Iraq. Our services and transportation are from Iraq,” a senior Jordanian official said. On the other hand, he said, the Jordanian economy benefits from money sent home by Jordanian citizens working in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the other gulf states.

For his part, Bush said that he believes the sanctions “are beginning to take hold.”

“There doesn’t appear to be any shipments of oil coming out of Iraq. And that is very positive because I think 90% of their foreign exchange . . . is based on petroleum,” he said.

The President said he could cite no evidence, however, that the impact is being felt in Iraq, save “one little tidbit”--bakers had been ordered to halt production of confectionary goods to produce more basic foods.

“I don’t think one can sustain true international isolation for long, especially when you depend on the outside world for a lot of your goods,” he said.

Bush said that he was not totally satisfied regarding compliance with the sanctions.

“We’ve got to guard against cheaters. You’ve got to guard against people who, for economic gain, will try to violate these sanctions from whatever part of the world they come from, whatever country they come from,” he said.

Staff writers Norman Kempster and Melissa Healy, in Washington, contributed to this report.