Koizumi tours Jordan's ancient Petra

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

PETRA, Jordan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took a brief break from his first tour of the crisis-hit Middle East to visit the ancient Jordanian city of Petra.

"Unforgettably impressive!" a joyful Koizumi, sporting a keffiyeh, exclaimed in English as he gazed upon the open-air amphitheater and other ruins carved and built from the rock in Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

"You are lucky to be here," he told tourists visiting the city, agreeing to have his picture snapped with several travellers.

Koizumi, who also rode a camel during an hour-long tour of Petra, later flew back to the Red Sea port of Aqaba, where he met with his Jordanian counterpart Marouf Al-Bakhit earlier in the day.

The Japanese premier was to leave Jordan...