Jordan Times
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Mulki's Israel visit to 'bring
back warmth' between neighbours
By Randa Habib
Agence France-Presse
AMMAN — Foreign Minister Hani Mulki told AFP on Wednesday he was heading to
Israel this weekend on the first such visit in four years to "bring back warmth"
to relations between the two neighbours.
Mulki, who will meet Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom on Saturday and Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday, said his talks will focus on how "to bring the
peace treaty and the agreements between Jordan back into action."
"I would like to see how to push them forward for the reasons envisaged in the
peace treaty," which Jordan signed with Israel in 1994, he added.
Mulki's visit, the first by a foreign minister since 2001, comes two weeks after
Amman returned its ambassador to Tel Aviv following a four-year hiatus over
Israel's actions against the Palestinian uprising.
It also comes amid tentative steps to push forward the Israeli-Palestinian peace
process, following a landmark summit last month between Sharon and Palestinian
leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The talks will also focus on "security cooperation," which Mulki said could
become a tripartite axis also involving the Palestinians.
"I will try to persuade the Israeli prime minister of the importance that he
accept the dispatch of the Badr Brigade to help uphold security" in areas of the
West Bank after Israel pulls out from four small settlements there later this
year, he said.
The 1,000-strong Badr Brigade is made up of Palestinians from the Palestine
Liberation Organisation who received training in Jordan but take their orders
from the Palestinian Authority.
Their presence in the West Bank "has been approved by the Palestinian president"
and "will be a symbol of tripartite security," Mulki said.
A diplomat told AFP Israel has had reservations over their deployment, which it
sees as tantamount to the return of Palestinian refugees.
Mulki said he will also hold discussions with the Israelis on multilateral
issues aimed at "starting a dialogue in which we can define the peace process".
"We would like a new common ground building," he said. He stressed that Jordan
has "national interests" to uphold in the final status negotiations between
Israel and the Palestinians, namely those on refugees, water, Jerusalem,
settlements and borders.
Mulki will begin his two-day visit Saturday, first stopping in the West Bank
town of Ramallah for talks with the Palestinian leader before heading to Tel
Aviv.
"I will tell President Abbas of Jordan's readiness to play the go-between,
between the Palestinians and the Israelis, if this can help the Palestinian
cause," he said.
High on his agenda will also be the detention in Israel of around 25 prisoners
"for reasons linked to the resistance against the occupation forces and whose
freedom we are demanding," he said.
Mulki said he will also discuss the issue of Jordanian property in Israel "that
have been classified under the absentee property law, which means that their
owners cannot sell them."
"A Jordanian with US nationality can have property in Jerusalem and we consider
this as discrimination," Mulki said.
One property of contention is occupied Jerusalem's Seven Arches Hotel which is
owned by the Jordanian government, and which Mulki said he hoped to settle.