Jordan is willing to become the first Arab state to send troops to Iraq if Baghdad's new interim government requests it.
But King Abdullah, speaking in a television interview with the BBC last night, said he had not yet discussed the issue with Iraqis.
King Abdullah's comments, welcomed by US officials, reflect a major shift in his country's views on the international military presence in Iraq now that Washington has handed power to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's interim government.
"My position has been beforehand not to send troops . . . because of Jordanian history with Iraq," he said. "I felt that all countries that surround Iraq have their own agendas, so maybe we're not the right people to go in for the job.
"However, now there's an interim government and, we hope, a fully independent process very soon in Iraq. I presume, if the Iraqis ask us for help directly it will be very difficult for us to say no," he said.
"My message to the president and prime minister is: tell us what you want, tell us how we can help and we have 110 per cent support for this," he said.
Iraq's former Governing Council, the US-backed authority that preceded the interim government sworn in this week, firmly refused to have any troops from neighbouring countries on its soil, raising the possibility any offer now by Jordan might also be turned down.
Muslim Turkey said last year, in response to a US request, that it was ready to send troops to Iraq but then withdrew the offer when the Governing Council opposed the move. At the time, Jordan criticised Turkey's troops offer.