Jordan Times
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Jordan appreciates
Bush's stand against settlements
Agencies
Foreign Minister Farouq Qasrawi on Wednesday said
Jordan appreciated US President George W. Bush's stand against Israel's
settlement expansion and on the need to implement the roadmap.
Qasrawi told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a telephone call she
made that it was important to support the Palestinian Authority, according to
the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Rice worked the phones Tuesday to keep up momentum in the Middle East peace
process after a US-Israeli summit that highlighted differences between the close
allies, Agence France-Presse reported. Officials said Rice spoke with
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the foreign ministers of Germany and
Russia, and planned to make contact with the European Union and United Nations.
The calls were made a day after Bush hosted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
at his Texas ranch to bestow a public blessing on his plans to hand back the
Gaza Strip to the Palestinians. The two men also pledged their allegiance to the
roadmap to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but butted heads over Bush's
staunch opposition to the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
Abbas is due in the US later this month as part of efforts to move forward on
the roadmap. He is expected to arrive in Jordan next week en route to the US. In
Amman, Abbas will hold talks with Jordanian officials on developments in the
Palestinian situation.