WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- King Abdullah II of Jordan praised President George W. Bush's anti-terrorism campaign Friday and urged other countries to "make up their minds" to join the global effort.
Bush and Abdullah met at the White House, where the two leaders discussed the Mideast crisis and the president's designation of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil," a reference Abdullah supported.
Abdullah's statements were significant because the leader had sided with Iraq during the Gulf War a decade ago. He said he believed Bush had been clear on his position with regards to the coalition.
"I think the president has been very articulate from the beginning of the 11th of September that there is a new world, there's a new expectation of how countries are supposed to react. And those countries better make up their minds pretty quickly. I endorse that view and that position," Abdullah said.
Bush said that nations that continued to traffic in weapons of mass destruction would be making a wrong choice. "I hope nations make the right decision. A wrong decision would be to continue to export weapons of mass destruction," Bush said, referring to North Korea, Iran and Iraq. He called attention to the three countries during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, calling them "an axis of evil."
He went on to say, "All the three countries I mentioned are now on notice that we intend to take their development of weapons of mass destruction very seriously.
Earlier in the day, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told NBC's Today Show that Bush had made a mistake by "lumping" the three countries together. Albright, who led the State Department for President Clinton, said the countries are different from each other, and while talks on North Korea's weapon's program had gone nowhere, the United States had a "verifiable agreement" to stop the export of weapons from that country.
On the Middle East, Bush made reference to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, saying " a significant shipment of arms" allegedly ordered from Iran and being smuggled into the region by sea were intended for "terrorist purposes." Bush said that clashed with Arafat's promises that he would fight terrorism. Israeli soldiers found the weapons being moved across the Red Sea in early January.
"We cannot let that stand," Bush said.
Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of planning to assassinate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- a charge Middle East analysts thought unlikely.
The Palestinian accusations were sparked by a recent remark by Sharon that he regretted not killing Arafat in 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon and fought the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Sharon is to meet Bush in Washington next week. It will be his fourth visit with Bush in less than a year.
In his meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday, Abdullah said he believed both the Israelis and the Palestinians were tired of the cycle of violence.
"When I speak about frustration, I speak about frustrations of the Palestinian people, but at the same time, I know that the majority of Israelis want to find an exit," Abdullah said. "I mean, at the end of the day, let's forget about the politics and the leadership. The peoples -- I believe the majority of Israelis and Palestinians are just sick and tired of the cycle of violence and want a way out," Abdullah said.
