Obama visits Jordan for talks

Barack Obama, the US Democratic presidential candidate, has arrived in Amman, the Jordanian capital, on the latest leg of his Middle East tour.

Obama, who will hold talks with King Abdullah of Jordan later on Tuesday, flew in from Iraq where he had spent two days in talks with Iraqi politicians and US military figures.

Speaking at a press conference in Amman, Obama reiterated his belief that Afghanistan, where he began his tour over the weekend, should be the "central front" of the US's so-called "war on terror".
He also emphasised that while he believed security in Iraq had improved, there was still the need for a "political solution" and said the goal was still "to have US troops no longer engaged in combat operations in Iraq''.

"I welcome the growing consensus in the United States and Iraq for a timeline," he said.

"My view is we can safely deploy in 16 months so that our combat brigades are out of Iraq in 2010."

Obama, who spent Tuesday morning in Iraq's al-Anbar province holding talks with tribal leaders, is due to visit Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday.

His talks with King Abdullah will focus on "Middle East issues, particularly the peace process and Jordan's concerns about the Palestinian cause, as well as the country's efforts to find a just solution to the problem and establish an independent Palestinian state," Jordanian officials said in a statement.

Rami Khouri, the director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, told Al Jazeera that Obama's visit to Jordan is "largely a process of ratching up his foreign policy credentials".

"It is his weakest point, and this tour of the Middle East is part of his electoral campaign aimed at highlighting his capability to handle foreign affairs," he said.

"Jordan is friendly to the US, and I think this visit in particular will not pose too many difficulties."