King Abdullah of Jordan threw his weight behind the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan today, saying it must be waged cautiously but with unflinching resolve.
Speaking for what he said was the too-rarely-heard Arab majority, King Abdullah said the September 11th suicide hijackings in the United States were an affront to all humanity and called for effective international steps against terrorism.
"This means, as you know, a different kind of war. There is a military dimension, which must be exercised with caution, but always with unflinching resolve", he told MPs on a state visit to Britain.
"An even more important role is, and will be, played by other means - economic measures, diplomacy and the free flow of truth," he said.
The Jordanian monarch's words would have been warmly welcome to his hosts after the fierce Arab criticism of Washington's four-week-old military action that greeted Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair on his Middle East tour last week.
Mr Blair, Washington's closest ally since the September 11th attacks, insisted on a whirlwind visit to the United States yesterday there was a complete and total determination to prevail in Afghanistan.