Iraqi premier in Jordan, no oil deal announced

Iraq's prime minister has made a rare state visit to Jordan for talks, as Jordan faces an energy-related budget crisis.

A brief royal palace statement said Monday's meeting of King Abdullah II with Nouri al-Maliki covered Syria and Palestinian issues.

Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Karim Elaib took part, but there was no word about boosting Iraqi shipments of 15,000 barrels of oil a day to resource-poor Jordan.

Violent demonstrations erupted in Jordan last month after the government removed subsidies to offset $5 billion in losses from a rising fuel bill. Heating and cooking gas prices jumped by 54 percent, and some oil derivatives rose by up to 28 percent.

Last month Iraq's Shiite-led government announced a one-time gift of 100,000 barrels of oil to Sunni Muslim Jordan to help.

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