Jordan Times
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Foreign minister briefs Arafat
on latest efforts to revive peace process
Muasher delivers address at Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World
ISTANBUL (Agencies) — Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher on Wednesday called
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to brief him on the Kingdom's latest efforts
to revive the peace process, including a letter His Majesty King Abdullah sent
to US President George W. Bush on the Israeli plan to unilaterally withdraw from
the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, Muasher received a phone call from US Secretary of State Colin
Powell briefing him on the latest developments on the Israeli plan, following
separate visits to Washington by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Muasher reviewed Jordan's position on the planned withdrawal, which was stressed
in the King's letter to Bush this week, reiterating that it should be in line
with the roadmap and guarantee the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Also Tuesday, Muasher said reform initiatives in the Arab world should emerge
from inside, warning that such proposals might harm the reform process in the
region.
“Opponents of political and social reform will conveniently label reform efforts
as a mere implementation of a Western agenda,” he added. Muasher's remarks came
at a conference held in Istanbul on democracy in the Islamic world.
In his speech, the foreign minister reviewed Jordan's efforts over the past
years to implement reforms, pointing out that the Kingdom seeks to gradually
establish a system where individual and public freedoms are respected. The
minister said Jordan is undertaking primary steps to amend the laws in
accordance with the Constitution that guarantee equality for all Jordanians
before the law.
On women's rights, Muasher said legislators are slated to abolish all
discriminative legislation against women and are now revising many laws related
to family protection, civil rights, citizenship and the Penal Code.
He added that, for the first time in Jordan's history, the incumbent 21-member
Cabinet has three women on board. He also highlighted the women's six-seat quota
at the Lower House, in addition to any other seats that might be won by women
through general parliamentary polls.
Citing examples of the Kingdom's ongoing reform plans, Muasher pointed to a
three-year plan designed to upgrade the performance of the judiciary and a
five-year plan to reform the educational system.
Commenting on the recently publicised unofficial US-proposed Greater Middle East
Plan, Muasher said it has caused heated discussions across the Arab world. He
warned of such ideas, saying “countries are lumped together sometimes for no
other reason other than their common Islamic religion.”
He also reiterated that the reform process cannot be considered in isolation
from the regional central issue, namely the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.