Clinton Presses Jordan on Sanctions

President Clinton pressed Jordan’s King Hussein on Friday to enforce trade sanctions against Iraq and be “very tough on them.”

Their meeting came just two days after newly declassified documents showed that Jordan provided military help to Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War.

Clinton made clear to Hussein that the sanctions are “incredibly important to the United States and we’ll continue to press to see that sanctions are enforced,” White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said.

The President and the king met for two hours, first in the Oval Office and then over lunch in the residence. Their discussions focused heavily on Middle East peace talks.

“I believe some considerable ground has been covered,” Hussein said as he posed for pictures with Clinton. “We are still a long way from getting there, but there is no other alternative.”

Similarly, Clinton said, “I have the feeling that maybe all the parties have now concluded not that they have no differences, but that there is no alternative to peace.”

Clinton said they also discussed efforts to democratize Jordan and modernize its economy.