LONDON, May 3: Jordan’s King Abdullah has warned that any US military intervention in Iraq would be catastrophic for the Middle East.

The king also said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will never be resolved unless the United States becomes more involved.

He was speaking in a BBC radio interview recorded in London on Thursday, before Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the United States was preparing for a Middle East peace conference this summer.

The interview was broadcast on Friday ahead of Abdullah’s visit to Washington next week for talks with President George W. Bush.

“If there is any sensitivity to what is going on in the Middle East, what is going on between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Iraq isn’t really a subject that should even be discussed at this stage,” he said.

“I think with the emotions not only in Jordan but throughout the Middle East...to then go and do something with Iraq I think would be catastrophic throughout the whole of the Middle East.”

Bush has made no secret of his intention to move against Iraq at some point, publicly branding the country part of an “axis of evil” together with North Korea and Iran. All three nations, he says, could form a deadly alliance with terrorists by sharing dangerous weapons.

On the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Abdullah said the Americans had been slow to react since the start of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation 19 months ago.

“I believe they are beginning to wake up to the fact that they need to really be able to step in and solve the problem, “ he said. “If the Americans don’t get involved, the problem won’t go away.”

He said his trip to Washington would focus on possible resolutions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Next week we will be in Washington trying to see what mechanisms we can put together to get the Israelis and Palestinians back to the table,” he said.

“Not in the old style of confidence-building steps (but) going straight to the final solutions — i.e. a Palestinian state and Israel’s acceptance by the Arab world.”

Powell said on Thursday that a summer Middle East peace conference was under discussion to capitalise on a “window of opportunity” presented by the end of a month-old Israeli siege on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his Ramallah headquarters.—Reuters