Two days before his visit to the White House to meet with US President George Bush, the King of Jordan said in London that one should not listen to the hawks in Washington who support a military intervention in Iraq. For the first time since he assumed power in February 1999, the King criticized his uncle Prince Hassan Bin Talal over his participation in a London conference for the Iraqi opposition on July 12th, describing it as a "deadly mistake."

In an interview with The Times, King Abdullah, who seemed to differ with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair about linking the Iraqi and Palestinian issues, said he will call in Washington for a timetable to be imposed on the Palestinian and Israeli sides. He criticized Bush's demand to remove the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, noting that it "contributed to strengthening the popularity of the Palestinian President and prevented any move to isolate him." King Abdullah said that the majority of the Palestinians who feel the US is biased in favor of Israel will simply vote for Arafat "just to tease the US." He warned against any military act in Iraq without solving the Palestinian-Israeli problem first. Due to "the failure to achieve progress in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, any military act against Iraq will open the door to all possibilities." The King again denied reports that Jordan would be a likely starting point for any American attack against Iraq.

On the other hand, the official spokesman for Blair said that talks between Blair and Abdullah on Monday dealt with a wide spectrum of issues, and mainly concentrated on the Middle East and Iraq. The spokesman indicated that Blair did not totally agree with the King's view that the war led by the US against terrorism, including military action against Iraq, cannot proceed unless serious steps are taken to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.