writes frome Amman

JORDAN'S relations with neighbouring Israel have been officially cordial since 1994, when Jordan became the second Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state, following Egypt in 1979.

But there is a broad undercurrent of anti-Israeli feeling in Jordan, where roughly half of the five-million-strong population is of Palestinian origins.

And relations have cooled significantly since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation broke out in September.

Jordan has named a successor to its recently retired ambassador to Israel, but has delayed sending him in protest at the violence.

Until now, Jordanian officials have refrained from commenting on the prospects of an electoral win by

Ariel Sharon, hawkish leader of the right-wing Likud party and a man Arab's love to hate.

But Sharon is running some 20 points ahead of caretaker Prime Minister and Labour party candidate Ehud Barak in the run-up to the February 6 election, making him the almost virtual winner, and his comments prompted a sharp reply from Jordan's prime minister, Ali Abu Ragheb.

Sharon had told Israel's Yediot Aharonot daily: "There is a risk of Yasser Arafat toppling the Hashemite regime in Jordan and establishing a Palestinian state in that country."

Abu Ragheb replied sharply, saying in remarks to AFP Wednesday that "these statements are nonsense and are aimed at sowing discord between Jordanians and Palestinians.

Sharon's statements are aimed

at "undermining the whole peace process by turning attention away from the key issues towards issues that are the fruit of the imagination," Abu Ragheb said.

Sharon had also said the Jordanians had told him of their concerns, saying for that very reason they wanted Israel to stand firm along the entirety of the West Bank of the Jordan Valley, which separates the two countries.

Abu Ragheb firmly denied that Jordan made such statements.

"Jordan is impatiently waiting for the day when it will have common borders with the Palestinian territories that would be controlled on the Palestinian side by the Palestinians themselves."

To temper the mood, a government official stressed that the peace treaty stipulates clearly marked borders between Jordan and Israel which automatically rule out the

notion of "Jordan as a Palestinian state."

Meanwhile, another senior Jordanian official Wednesday expressed hope that if Sharon does win next Tuesday, he will uphold Israel's commitment to peace.

In contrast, a Jordanian senator

and a political analyst said they feared the worst is yet to come.

"A victory by Ariel Sharon will mean a change of style but not of principles concerning the (Arab-Israeli) peace process," the senior cabinet official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Once elected Sharon "must adopt a political vision that takes into account the interests of his country and not only those of the Likud," the official said.

Nevertheless, Sharon continues to symbolise "evil," Jordanian senators and analysts told AFP.

"In the minds of most Jordanians, Ariel Sharon is also the one who ordered the Sabra and Shatila massacres" in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982, the senator said.

"His victory will, undoubtedly, strengthen the anti-Israeli camp" in Jordan, which has steadfastly campaigned for the abrogation of the 1994 peace treaty, the senator said.

A senior political analyst said a Sharon victory would complicate the delicate domestic balance inside Jordan, "where the most serious challenge will be to preserve intact the peace treaty and relations with Israel."

The "Sharon effect" over Jordan will also depend on the repercussions his election will have in the Palestinian territories.

"If he pursues his policies of provocation, the result will be an escalation of violence in the territories, and this will have serious economic repercussions in Jordan," the analyst said on condition of anonymity.

Some officials, however, believe that the new US administration of President George W Bush will be tougher on Israel than the previous one, forcing Sharon to tone down his positions.

Politicians also hope that a Sharon victory will prompt Arabs to close ranks in defiance against the one they consider their "enemy number one."

"Arab countries are united in danger and divided in peace," one politician said.

"A man like Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will gain in popularity if Sharon is elected in Israel because Saddam is the one who challenged Israel by rocketing it with missiles" during the 1991 Gulf war, he added.

AFP