“The United States welcomes all efforts to advance peace and greater understanding,” President Johnson told King Hussein of Jordan today, welcoming the latter at the White House.
The President’s comment was made in connection with his expressions of pleasure over the improvement of relations among the Arab nations and the prominent role played in that development by Hussein. The President also stressed that the United States welcomes the efforts to improve conditions in Jordan. “We are proud to have been able to assist Jordan in the past, and we stand ready to continue our assistance in such a great undertaking,” President Johnson declared. (American assistance to Jordan now consists of about $34,000,000 in budgetary support, about $7,000,000 in development grants, and about $4,000,000 in military assistance.)
King Hussein, in his reply, thanked the President for the welcome and declared that he brought greetings from the Jordanian people as well as from “my brethren leaders of the Arab world.” That remark is seen here as indicating that Hussein wishes to present himself as a spokesman for all the Arab countries on a number of issues, including the question of Israel’s irrigation projects. Hussein was among the Arab rulers who attended the Arab summit conference on this issue in Cairo last January.
President Johnson tendered a dinner in honor of King Hussein, at the White House, tonight. This afternoon, the Jordanian monarch was the guest of honor at a tea given by Sen. William J. Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
