Jordan Times
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
King says ‘unique’ opportunity
now for reviving peace
By Mohammad Ghazal
with agency dispatches
AMMAN — King Abdullah on Tuesday said the Middle East was witnessing a “unique”
opportunity for restarting efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace.
The King told reporters following talks with President Vladimir Putin that he
spoke to the Russian leader about the importance of resolving the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is the core issue in the region.
The Monarch said the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators of Russia, the US,
EU and the UN should support the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which offered
Israel normal ties in return for the Jewish state’s withdrawal from territories
seized in the 1967 war.
The group, which drafted the roadmap peace plan envisioning the establishment of
a Palestinian state, was scheduled to meet in Berlin February 21 to review the
latest Palestinian developments, including last week’s Saudi-brokered Mecca
agreement by Fateh and Hamas to form a unity government.
The Hamas-led government will resign by Thursday, as part of the power-sharing
deal with the rival Fateh movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the
Associated Press quoted a senior official as saying.
The resignation is expected “within the next two days”, most likely before Abbas
arrives in Gaza on Thursday, said Ghazi Hamad, the government spokesman.
Abbas will meet with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Thursday
afternoon to discuss the formation of a Hamas-Fateh coalition. Once the Hamas
government resigns, Haniyeh has five weeks to form a new coalition. The two
sides have agreed to a distribution of portfolios, but have not yet agreed on
who will take two key posts — deputy prime minister and interior minister.
“As a member of the Quartet, Russia has an important role to play,” King
Abdullah said.
“President Putin and I agreed that negotiations towards the establishment of a
viable, independent Palestinian state should be accelerated.”
Putin, who described his talks with King Abdullah as “constructive and
important”, held talks with Abbas at the Queen Alia International Airport before
leaving Jordan, stressing during the brief meeting the importance of an
“efficient” new Palestinian government of national unity, Reuters reported.
The Palestinians hope that a Fateh-Hamas lineup will end a punitive Western aid
freeze that has crippled their economy.
“I want to assure you that whatever topic we discuss in this region, we always
start with the Palestinian problem,” Putin told Abbas.
“We hope that very soon conditions will be created for lifting the blockade. It
will be lifted to allow you to take the next step towards full-scale
settlement.”
He also told Abbas that it would be “very useful” if an Israeli soldier captured
in Gaza last June was freed.
The King said Jordan and Russia were deeply concerned about developments in the
Palestinian territories, particularly in occupied Jerusalem.
Israel denied a report Tuesday that excavations and building work near Al Aqsa
Mosque had been abandoned, as angry Muslims continued to slam the project,
according to Agence France-Presse.
Putin yesterday pressed his plan for a regional conference to unblock the
Israeli-Palestinian peace process. His proposal would engage Syria in the talks,
a prospect likely to unsettle the US.
“We confirm our call for a broad international conference in the Middle East and
we see the number of supporters of this proposal growing,” Putin said in a
statement he read to reporters as he stood alongside King Abdullah.
“But it should be well prepared and the agenda [should] include the Palestinian,
Lebanese and Syrian tracks.”
Putin arrived on Monday in Amman, the third leg on his trip which has already
taken him to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in a bid to boost Moscow’s influence in the
region.
His tour came after he launched a blistering attack on what he labelled the
“ruinous” dominance of the United States and its foreign policies.
Putin defended his remarks in Amman as “the truth” and took a new swipe at
Washington before boarding his plane home.
“For more than 10 years we have been listening to what our partners have been
saying about different topics. We are very patient and very tolerant but we have
the feeling that we are misunderstood,” Putin told reporters.
“They have begun to stir up so-called threats created by Russia, which don’t
exist, in order to ask the US Congress for funds for their military action in
Afghanistan, Iraq, and to build their anti-missile shield in Europe,” he added.
Last week, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told Congress that Russia is among
countries that pose a military threat.
Nevertheless Putin seemed satisfied with his visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and
Jordan, which were aimed at boosting energy, economic and political ties.
The visits have opened the way for “big possibilities for Russia”, he said in
Amman, adding that he detected “an increased interest in Russia on the part of
our Arab partners”.
“We understand that this possibility of action must be done in a delicate and
balanced manner,” he said in apparent reference to US policies, according to
Reuters.
“For Russia the Middle East is strategically important.”
A joint statement issued by the Royal Court said Jordan and Russia agreed to
boost military cooperation and signed deals to bolster trade and economic ties.
Putin also thanked Jordan for giving the Russian Orthodox Church a “plot of
land” on the eastern banks of the Jordan River, near the site where Jesus Christ
is believed to have been baptised by John the Baptist.