In the first of a series of Internet correspondences from around the globe, Amy Henderson of The Jordan Times describes the Jordanian people's reaction to the U.N. brokered deal with Iraq and the political mood of the country in general.

Amman, Jordan - February 23, 1998 -- The headlines today that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had struck a deal with Saddam Hussein over the growing crisis with Iraq was for the most part a welcome relief to most Jordanians, although they, like the rest of the world, are holding their breath for the American judgement.

I do not feel that they were terribly encouraged by Madeline Albright's comments. Her tone, rather than sounding optimistic that a full scale war might be averted, left many feeling that she was still spoiling for a fight.

However, one can also say that the deal has, for the time being, alleviated Jordan's internal pressure: the last two weeks have witnessed a heavy government crackdown on pro-Iraq protestors that resulted in the death of one Jordanian when police opened fire on protestors in the souther city of Ma'an and the arrest of the leading opposition figure in the country, Leith Shbeilat.

Jordanians also have been concerned about the scale of humanitarian suffering in Iraq and fear that the country cannot absorb a consequential wave of refugees should the U.S. launch a sustained strike. (In the first gulf war, Jordan absorbed 300,000 Jordanians of Palestinian origin who were ousted from Gulf states after Yasser Arafat sided with Iraq during the invasion and subsequent war. The country also absorbed tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees.)

Last but certainly not least, Jordanians fear that a strike cut the line to its most important export market and access to cheap oil.

One also cannot view the crisis with Iraq independently of the peace process and the U.S. position regarding the application of U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iraq while Jordan's western neighbour, Israel, has been in constant, flagrant violation of the same for the last three decades.

The U.S. has lost what remained of its credibility, as far as Jordanians at the popular level are concerned.

The current situation has created such an internal crisis due to Jordan's official shift in policy towards the Israel and the U.S. following the signing of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty in 1994.

This is a policy that most Jordanians cannot abide, especially as there has been no progress on the Palestinian track of the peace process (roughly 70 per cent of all Jordanians are of Palestinian origin) and as most Jordanians do not feel that peace with Israel has brought them any significant benefit.