Abdullah in bid to broker deal between US and Iran

Jordan's King Abdullah is quietly trying to broker a deal that would lead Tehran to surrender some 70 Al Qaida operatives, including the son of Osama bin Laden, in exchange for US action on the largest Iranian opposition group now based in Iraq, according to US and Middle East officials.

Abdullah, who is hoping to revive dialogue between the United States and Iran, discussed prospects with the Bush administration during a private visit to Washington Thursday and Friday. He visited Tehran earlier this fall, the first visit by a Jordanian leader in a quarter century, the officials said.

Jordan's effort reflects growing interest in the Middle East in seeing the United States reopen informal talks with Iran, which were suspended after three sessions in Europe earlier this year. During his tour to Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria last week, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was also urged to improve relations with Iran.

"Certainly people in the region, including other heads of state, are interested in seeing something happen. It's clear that people in the region would like us to do what we can to establish a better relationship," a senior State Department official said Saturday.

The growing interest by Arab countries is a significant shift, given longstanding tension between Arabs and Iranians and the general fear among secular Arab governments of Iran's Islamic regime.

The young monarch, who is growing into the role of regional mediator once played by his father, King Hussein, was heartened by interest even among Iran's hardliners in resuming dialogue with the United States, US and Arab diplomats said.

Jordan and other Arab governments believe the time is ripe in part because of instability in Iraq, which shares its longest border with Iran.

Although Iran has a majority Shi'ite population, it also has large Kurdish, Arab and Sunni minorities and any tensions among those communities in Iraq could spill across the 910-mile border.

The agreement two weeks ago between the United States and Europeans on Iran's nuclear energy programme may improve prospects, Iran experts say.

Despite pressure from US neoconservatives to press for regime change in Iran, the Bush administration has left open the possibility of renewing dialogue if Iran acts on Al Qaida.