Jordan will next month open formal accession talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council, in a move that is expected to deepen the close economic and security relationship. Nasser Judeh, the Jordanian foreign minister, said last week that the first meeting to discuss his country's membership of the GCC "will be held after the Eid Al Fitr holiday", suggesting a date in early September. He said the first gathering would produce a "road map to follow through with membership procedures", adding that Jordan was politically and economically ready for membership. The country has been keen to join the alliance since the GCC was founded in 1981. Its efforts were finally rewarded this year, when a surprise announcement by the GCC in Riyadh revealed that both Jordan and Morocco were invited to join the council. Saleh Kharabsheh, the secretary-general of Jordan's ministry of planning and international cooperation, described the planned September gathering to discuss GCC membership as a "kick-off meeting". Kharabsheh told the Financial Times that it was impossible to say how long the accession negotiations would take, but stressed: "From our side, we are ready to negotiate with our neighbors and to reach an agreement as soon as possible." Both GCC rulers and Jordan have also generally taken a dim view of the recent wave of political unrest in the broader Arab world. King Abdullah of Jordan this week promised an overhaul of the 1952 constitution, including the creation of a constitutional court and steps to strengthen the largely powerless parliament. This year's outbreak of public discontent in Jordan, fuelled not least by the recent sharp rise in commodity prices, has forced the government in Amman to spend more money on subsidies - exacerbating the country's long
