Monday, August 12, 2002 -- 08:38 GMT
AMMAN, August 12 (AFP) - Joint Jordanian-American exercises are expected to begin within "48 hours" with the Monday arrivail of American Forces in Aqaba Port in Southrn Jordan, without Iraqi involvement, a source in Amman told AFP.
The forces, estimated at 4,000 American soldiers, will carry out various military exercises for about three weeks with the Jordanian Army, the source told AFP under anonymity.
He said, " The operations were planed over a year ago, are regular exercises between the two nations, and have nothing to do with Iraq."
"The the conclusion of the maneuvers, scheduled for the first week of September, the American forces will leave Jordan and no American soldiers involved will remain in the Kingdom," the source insisted.
Jordan, a principal Arab ally of Washington but opposed to a stike on its eastern neighbor, has repeated denied the American military its territory for use as a staging-ground for a strike against Iraq, wether in the near or long-term future, according to the press.
The Jordanian military has previously pointed out that the exercises with the American Army have taken place near the Jordan-Iraq border.
My translation.
Google totally murder this: Jordan, one of the principal Arab allies of Washington but opposed to an American striking against its neighbor of the east, denied on several occasions that the presence of soldiers or American experts on his territory is dependent of near or by far on a possible striking against Iraq, evoked by the press. My translation of this part was quite a bit more liberal than literal.
