Jordan's King Abdullah said today that any US attack against Iraq would have catastrophic repercussions on the oil-rich country and the Middle East region.
The monarch held talks with a senior envoy of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Amman on the eve of a regional tour by US Vice President Dick Cheney that includes stops in Jordan and three other countries bordering Iraq.
Speculation that Iraq is to be the next target of the US-led war on terrorism has mounted since President George W. Bush included Iraq as part of what he called "an axis of evil" in his State of the Union address in January.
Mr Cheney is expected in Amman on Tuesday for discussions with King Abdullah the following day, with Iraq high on the agenda.
Mr Cheney, who will also visit Britain, Kuwait, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Oman, Israel and Yemen, wants to rally support for eliminating what Washington sees as a threat of weapons of mass destruction posed by Iraq.
The king expressed hope that the talks, which resume next month, would resolve all outstanding issues between the two sides and lead to a lifting of UN sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.