US President Barack Obama Visits Jordan - Friday March 22,2013

US President Barack Obama listens to his National Anthem as he participates in an official arrival ceremony with Jordan's King Abdullah II at Al-Hummar Palace, in Amman on March 22, 2013

The US president is spending just over 24 hours in Jordan but the trip is being billed as– a reward for the most loyal of US Arab allies.In 1994, Jordan became the second Arab country after Egypt to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state(Israel) – one of the principal reasons for its close relationship with the US

Analysts see Obama's visit to the Hashemite kingdom as a gesture of support because of the burden of hosting some 450,000 Syrian refugees

Human Rights Watch has, meanwhile, asked Barack Obama to urge Jordan to stop rejecting Palestinian refugees, single males, and undocumented people seeking asylum at its border with Syria.

King Abdullah II told reporters that the conflict has caused 460,000 refugees to flood his country and more were on the way.That equals 10% of Jordan's population, and the total could double by the end of the year, the king said in asking for more help from the international community as his country also deals with internal reforms in response to economic woes that are raising public dissatisfaction.

Barack Obama said he was working with Congress to provide an additional $200 million to Jordan this year to help deal with the refugee influx

Protests held in Jordan ahead of Barack Obama visit

 

Members of the Jordanian Communist Party have demonstrated against US President Barack Obama's visit to the region by staging a protest in front of the US embassy on Thursday March 21,2013 chanting slogans such as "USA go away" and "Obama go away".