Abdullah-Chirac talks center international conference on Iraq

By: Anjum Kermani

PARIS, France: Jordanian King Abdullah II held talks with French President Jacques Chirac on the Middle East after warning in a newspaper interview that elections in Iraq are impossible in the current state of insecurity.

The one-hour meeting at the Elysee palace in Paris focused on proposals for an international conference on Iraq, as well as terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Chirac's office said.

King Abdullah made no comment to reporters before leaving for Rome for meetings with President Carlo Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

His remarks earlier to the Paris daily Le Figaro were seen as a sign of mounting skepticism in the region on the viability of national elections planned for January by the Iraqi interim government and the US-led forces there.

The king warned against a proposal of US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that partial elections could be held in regions that are peaceful in January.

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