Jordan Times
Sunday, March 14, 1999
In meeting with U.S. envoy Indyk
King underlines importance of commitment to Mideast peace
AMMAN (J.T.) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday held talks with a senior U.S. official on the stalled Middle East peace process during which he underlined the importance of implementing signed peace accords.
“Failure to commit to the accords will deepen the lack of confidence and frustration in the region,” said King Abdullah at a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Martin Indyk.
“Commitment to the implementation of the peace accords is of paramount importance,” King Abdullah said at the meeting, which was attended by Royal Court Chief Abdul Karim Kabariti, Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib and U.S. Ambassador William Burns.
King Abdullah said the late King Hussein played a key role in the conclusion of the Wye agreement and stressed that “commitment to peace has become a pressing need and not an election choice.”
On the domestic front, the King noted that Jordan is currently working towards reforming the national economy, a process which he said is bound to result in social burdens on the Jordanian people. But he added that Jordan hopes friendly nations' assistance will help the Kingdom overcome any obstacles.
Referring to Iraq, King Abdullah said “Jordan's position is unchanged and is identical to the stands of the Arab countries,” which demand the lifting of the U.N.-imposed sanctions on the Iraqi people and the safeguarding of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Jordan will never take any part in instigating any changes in Iraq. This is the concern of the Iraqi people alone,” the King said.
King Abdullah added that the embargo has become an intolerable burden on the Iraqi people.
Earlier, Indyk met with Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh for talks on Jordan-U.S. relations. The U.S. official reaffirmed Washington's support for the Kingdom's efforts to achieve peace and reform its national economy.
Speaking to Jordan Television after the meeting, Indyk said: “We are keen to do what we can to support Jordan in this time of transition and to support His Majesty King Abdullah and the Rawabdeh cabinet. The prime minister made clear the priorities in terms of promoting growth in the Jordanian economy, and we talked about ways in which the U.S. can help not only in providing substantial assistance to Jordan, but also by mobilising international support like rescheduling debts that would give the Jordanian economy resources needed to grow.”
“We also need to open markets in the Gulf and in the West Bank and Israel so that there is a chance for Jordanian exports to grow, which would create more jobs in Jordan.”
Referring to the peace process, Indyk said both sides have a commitment to comply with the peace accords.
“We feel that both sides should meet their obligations under the Wye agreement. We are working under the Wye accord very hard to get Palestinians to fully comply, and the Israelis should do so also. But there is a reality in Israel that there is a pre-occupation at the moment but it is very important that both sides fulfil their obligations and that is a position that we make very clear to all parties.”
On the Syrian and Lebanese tracks, Indyk said: “There has been a stagnation on these tracks for two and half years now. We would like to see that those talks proceed at the same time as the Palestinian track. But realistically, that is something that is not going to happen until after the Israeli elections. What we are interested in doing now is seeing if it is possible to prepare the ground for moving on the Syrian and the Lebanese tracks after the Israeli elections as well.”
Indyk's meeting with Rawabdeh was attended by Planning Minister Rima Khalaf, Foreign Minister Khatib and U.S. Ambassador Burns.