Aqaba usually in eye of Middle East storm

AQABA, Jordan – Nestled in the far northern niche of the Red Sea, abutting Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the resort of Aqaba has long been safe – mostly because of Jordan’s tight security.

With Israel’s resort of Eilat visible only miles to the west along the beach, Aqaba also has been a key site for Arab-Israeli peacemaking.

Jordan and Israel signed their 1994 peace treaty at a ceremony in the desert attended by then-President Clinton. In June 2003, the town hosted an Israeli-Palestinian summit attended by President Bush and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Since the war that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003, U.S. military and other officials have come to Aqaba for respite from the battleground in neighboring Iraq.

Aqaba, Arabic for “obstacle,” also has been a favorite vacation spot for Jordan’s royal family, who keep a compound of palaces on the city’s western edge bordering Israel.

The only port in a country that has about 10 miles of coastline, Aqaba is vital for Jordan’s economy.

In 2001, King Abdullah declared the city a free trade zone, creating tax breaks on a range of goods and services. That has attracted investment, including a host of American fast-food restaurants and hotel chains.

Aqaba was once a sleepy fishing village, dragged into modern times when the border with neighboring Saudi Arabia was adjusted in 1965.

Jordan gained a few extra miles of coastline and coral reef south of Aqaba, allowing for the construction of a full-size port facility.

The city of 30,000 inhabitants – just south of a chain of rose red mountains in the midst of desert terrain – has since become a tourist attraction. Even during times of heightened hostility, Westerners and eastern Europeans flocked to Aqaba because of the relative security it enjoyed.