Barack Obama arrives in Jordan for talks with Mideast leaders

After visits to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, Barack Obama shifted his focus to Mideast peace efforts today as he arrived here for two days of talks with leaders in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The all-but-sure Democratic nominee for president arrived at a military base in Jordan under tight security after concluding his Iraq visit this morning with a stop in Ramadi, once a breeding ground of the Sunni insurgency.

Obama told reporters in Jordan that the tribal leaders whom he met in Ramadi this morning expressed concern that a “precipitous” withdrawal could lead to new violence.

“I have proposed a steady, deliberate drawdown over the course of 16 months, and I emphasized that to them,” Obama said.

But even as he left the combat zones of Iraq behind, an attack this morning near the Jerusalem hotel where Obama plans to stay tonight offered an unwelcome illustration of the enduring violence stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A Palestinian man rammed a construction vehicle into three cars and a city bus, injuring four people before an Israeli civilian shot and killed him, the Associated Press reported.

“Today’s bulldozer attack is a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long,” Obama told reporters in Amman.

The Illinois senator spoke from behind a lectern in the dramatic setting of ancient ruins atop Citadel Hill, or Jebel-al-Qual’a. Across the valley behind him were thousands of concrete apartment buildings terraced across the steep hillsides of Amman. Towering nearby on the hilltop were pillars of the Temple of Hercules.

On either side of Obama were the two senators who traveled with him to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait: Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

Like Obama, they called for a shift in U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, saying they are sorely needed there to fight resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda forces.

Of all the things he learned in the war zones, the most “eye-popping,” Obama said, was “the extent to which the porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan makes it very difficult for our troops, good as they are, to decisively defeat the Taliban” and terrorist groups.

Obama’s nine-day trip abroad is aimed at building voter confidence in his ability to handle foreign affairs, an area where Republican rival John McCain has held an edge in public opinion polls.

He plans to meet heads of state in Germany, France and Britain later this week. On Thursday, tens of thousands of people are expected to fill a Berlin park for an Obama speech on U.S. relations with Europe. Advisors hope the scene will illustrate his potential to improve America’s tarnished image abroad.

Obama arrived in Jordan in V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft that landed at Marka military base on a runway lined with soldiers. Wearing khakis, hiking boots and a wrinkled blue Oxford shirt, he carried a black helmet and what appeared to be body armor. He walked across the tarmac with orange earplugs in place.

During his visit to Citadel Hill, Obama toured the temple ruins and the remnants of Umayyad Palace. CBS News anchor Katie Couric, whose presence reflected the intense media coverage of the candidate’s trip overseas, was scheduled to interview him at the site.

From there, Obama headed by motorcade to the royal Beit Al Urdun palace complex for a private meeting with King Abdullah II. The king cut short a visit to the United States on Monday so that he could return home in time to greet the senator, Obama advisors said.

“They have bent over backwards to make this happen,” said Obama advisor Scott Gration, a retired Air Force major general.

Regional stability, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the fate of Iraq war refugees were likely topics of discussion between Obama and the king, advisors said.

The two were to dine at the palace with Queen Rania, several top Jordanian officials, Hagel, Reed, Gration and Daniel Rubinstein, the charge d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Jordan.

Tonight, Obama plans to fly to Israel. In Jerusalem, he will visit Yad Vashem, the Israeli memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. He also expects to visit the southern Israeli town of Sderot, which is often targeted by rockets fired from the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Obama is scheduled to meet with the Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

 michael.finnegan@latimes.com