Jordan mulling a review of its ties with Israel, says premier

Jan 4, 2009, 17:01 GMT

Amman- Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Sunday left the door open for reconsidering diplomatic ties with Israel in the wake of its invasion of the Gaza Strip.

'Given what is going on in the Gaza Strip, the government retains all available options, including the revision of its ties with countries in the region particularly Israel,' Dahabi told the lower house of parliament.

He said that the Jordanian government would 'deal with all developments in such a manner that responds to the supreme Jordanian national interest and serves the Palestinian cause'.

Dahabi's remark represented the strongest hint since the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza that the ties between Jordan and Israel could be affected.

There have been recurrent calls over the past week for severing ties with Israel and abrogating the 1994 peace treaty with the Jewish state.

On Sunday, leaders of political parties and trade unions joined thousands of Jordanians who demonstrated outside parliament to express anger over the Israeli attack.

The participants handed the Speaker of the lower house of parliament Abdul Hadi Majali a memorandum calling on the chamber's deputies to enact a new law that 'cancels' the peace treaty.

King Abdullah II has been leading a hectic effort to ensure an early cessation for the Israeli attack.

In a telephone conversation with the envoy of the so-called Middle East Quartet, Tony Blair, on Saturday, the Jordanian leader warned that 'Israel will not acquire security through killing innocent Palestinians'.