House Speaker Pelosi holds talks in Jordan with King Abdullah

[October 21, 2019]  By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior members of Congress held talks in Jordan on Saturday with King Abdullah II and other top Jordanian officials.

Pelosi said in a statement the visit was at "a critical time for the security and stability of the region... With the deepening crisis in Syria after Turkey’s incursion, our delegation has engaged in vital discussions about the impact to regional stability, increased flow of refugees, and the dangerous opening that has been provided to ISIS, Iran and Russia."

The U.S. delegation included the heads of key House committees including Foreign Affairs committee chairman Eliot Engel, Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, Intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff and Representative Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

The delegation also met Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and other senior Jordanian officials.

"We expressed our continued appreciation for the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Jordan and engaged in a constructive dialogue on regional stability, counter-terrorism, security cooperation, Middle East peace, economic development and other shared challenges," Pelosi said.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) addresses the audience during the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) 2019 Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, U.S. October 17, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called an agreement between the United States and Turkey on a pause in Ankara’s offensive in northeastern Syria a "sham."

The agreement "seriously undermines the credibility of America’s foreign policy and sends a dangerous message to our allies and adversaries alike that our word cannot be trusted. President Erdogan has given up nothing, and President Trump has given him everything," Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement.

Congress’s top Democrats said the House of Representatives would vote on a bipartisan sanctions package against Turkey in the coming days.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.