BAGHDAD, Sept 10: Jordan’s prime minister flew to Baghdad on Saturday for first visit by an Arab leader since the fall of Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi counterpart urged others to follow suit to end his US-backed government’s isolation.

Among other issues raised was a plan to build a railway from the Red Sea port of Aqaba to Baghdad, Jordanian Prime Minister Adnan Badran told a news conference after talks at which he also confirmed that Amman has appointed a full ambassador to Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said: “This visit means a great deal to us and marks a great political turning point.

“I call on all the Arab states to follow the Jordanian initiative. Today’s visit has broken a barrier and sent a political message,” Mr Jaafari said.

The Iraqi government led by Shia leader Jaafri has been critical of other Arab states, mostly dominated by Sunnis, for what it says is their failure to prevent Muslim insurgents from coming to Iraq and their reluctance to establish full diplomatic relations.

For their part, many Arab governments, including US ally Jordan, have been wary of the new Iraqi administration’s close ties to Washington and to non-Arab, Shia Iran.

Badran, whose government fears a possible overspill of Islamist violence from Iraq, said: “Jordan is as concerned about Iraq’s security and stability as it is for its own.”

The most wanted man in Iraq is Al Qaeda follower Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who trained in Afghanistan.

Badran said that Jordan would shortly dispatch an envoy to Baghdad again, two months after it angered the Iraqi government by withdrawing its officials following Al Qaeda’s kidnap and killing of Egypt’s envoy and attack on other Arab diplomats.

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi told a separate news conference that the Jordanian envoy would return with the full rank of ambassador, something few other Arab diplomats have.

Badran said new security measures would be introduced at the Iraq-Jordan border to ease trade between the two countries.

He added that, in the longer term, the two governments had agreed on a project to build a railway to Baghdad from Aqaba, a developing port on Jordan’s Red Sea coast. A further link south to Iraq’s only port on the Gulf would be considered, he added.—Reuters