Jordan Times
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
King warns against disruption of aid to Palestinian Authority
PARIS (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah on
Tuesday reiterated that any disruption of financial aid to the Palestinian
Authority will aggravate the situation in the Palestinian territories.
At a meeting here with French National Assembly President Jean-Louis Debré and
members of the foreign affairs committee, King Abdullah said he was in contact
with all donor countries to help continue their aid to the Palestinians.
The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation on Tuesday dispatched a 27-truck
convoy loaded with 400 tonnes of essential food supplies to the Palestinians,
who are suffering from a severe shortage of staples.
After his talks with King Abdullah on Monday, French President Jacques Chirac
suggested at a news conference that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could be
in charge of distributing European aid to the Palestinians after the formation
of a Hamas-dominated government. King Abdullah, accompanied by Her Majesty Queen
Rania, returned yesterday. The King warned yesterday that geopolitical facts on
the ground might not help establish a viable Palestinian state, unless peace
negotiations are accelerated to result in the establishment of this state in two
or three years.
He told the French legislators that the 2002 Arab Initiative gave Israel
everything it wanted, including peace, normalisation of relations and economic
ties with all Arabs in return for an independent and viable Palestinian state.
On the issue of the Danish cartoons, the King reiterated that all Muslims around
the world, including himself, condemned the images that denigrated the Prophet
Mohammad.
He said the freedom of expression should be respected, but there are
sensitivities that should be taken into consideration.
King Abdullah highlighted the role Jordan was playing to spell out the true
essence of Islam to the world through the Amman Message, which, he said, wages a
war against the extremists.
He said Jordan was willing to promote the Amman Message in France.