King Abdullah Gets Royal Reception in Washington

By Shirl McArthur

The first visit of King Abdullah of Jordan to Washington since his father’s death was both friendly and exhausting. The May 16-22 schedule included meetings with President Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other State Department officials, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and other Pentagon officials, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS), Ranking Minority Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD), and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC). The king also visited Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and other representatives including International Relations Committee Chairman Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), as well as countless businessmen, bankers, and journalists.

King Abdullah also held a joint press conference with Albright, gave a major address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and attended several luncheons, dinners, and receptions, including one hosted by Jordanian Ambassador Marwan Muasher for the Jordanian-American community. To conclude the week, the Jordanian monarch was able to relax a bit on Friday evening at a private showing of the new “Star Wars” movie in the company of Helms, Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), and CIA Director George Tenet, among others.

King Abdullah’s congressional reception was warm and positive. Although the timing of his visit—coinciding with the Israeli elections—prompted considerable discussion of the peace process, Jordan’s economic problems were also covered. Congressional leaders expressed their full understanding of Jordan’s economic needs, and, coincidentally, while the king was visiting the Senate, Congress completed work on the supplemental appropriations bill (see “Congress Watch,” p. 43),which includes $100 million in additional military and economic assistance for Jordan.

The king’s most interesting comments regarding the peace process were made at an evening affair, when he was asked about Syria’s intentions. According to Washington Post reporter Nora Boustany, Abdullah said he thinks Syria is ready to put its differences with the Israelis aside and sit down with them to resolve problems. But he also acknowledged that the Israel-Palestine track remains the core of the Arab-Israeli issue. According to Boustany, one of Abdullah’s advisers later said that the king was “conveying a message” from Syria to U.S. leaders that Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad wants to “level the field” for his own son, Bashir.

At the joint press conference with Albright, the peace process was also discussed by both parties, but neither said anything surprising. Instead, economic issues were featured. Albright said, in response to a question, that the U.S. would like to see Jordan become part of the World Trade Organization, but not at the expense of sacrificing the WTO’s terms and conditions. Abdullah replied that he intends to move quickly to join the WTO, because of “the high price Jordan will pay in the future if we don’t move fast enough.”

Albright also said that they had discussed the subject of forgiveness of some of Jordan’s $7 billion in foreign debt. She said that Clinton has raised the subject with his G-7 colleagues, and will continue to do so. Later, Clinton also said he thought that other countries could do more to help Jordan’s economy.

After the meetings at the Pentagon, Cohen said the U.S. will provide Jordan with weapons to upgrade and modernize its armed forces, and that the U.S. intends to pursue expert exchange programs and conduct joint military exercises with Jordan.

Far more than the official functions in the U.S. national capital, the event that most captured local media attention was the appearance on the last day of the visit of King Abdullah and Queen Rania at a charity chili cook-off sponsored by a local radio station. There they were pictured sampling the food and wearing the station’s baseball caps.

Shirl McArthur, a retired foreign service officer, is a senior consultant with Bruce Morgan Associates, an international research and consulting firm in the Washington, DC area.