AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The Jordanian government welcomed Thursday the re-election of U.S. President George W. Bush, seen by the Islamic-led opposition as a disappointment.
"Jordan welcomes the re-election of President Bush for a second mandate and looks forward to strengthened relations and continued cooperation with the United States in all fields," said government spokeswoman Asma Khoder.
She said Jordan had always had positive strategic relations with the United States "that did not change with the change of administrations in the White House."
Hamza Mansour, secretary general of the Islamic Action Front that leads the biggest opposition bloc in parliament, said, "Renewing Bush's mandate is a great disappointment and means more blood and victims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and maybe Sudan."
He added, "Bush's policies in the past four years fuelled hatred of peoples of the world against the United States."
Jordanian newspapers raised questions about the future of the Middle East region in light of Bush's re-election.
Al-Dustour said, "There are fears Bush would continue his policy of pre-emptive action, which could lead to the invasion of more Arab and Islamic countries accused of supporting terrorism like Syria and Iran."
Al-Rai wondered if Bush would learn any lessons from the past four years and change his Middle East policy, especially regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq.
