Jordan Times
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
The Quartet should 'take
the lead' to enforce roadmap — Freivalds
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday said
efforts must be exerted to find political solutions to the Palestinian and Iraqi
issues that have led to an escalation of violence and tension in the region.
The King's remarks were made during talks with visiting Swedish Foreign Minister
Laila Freivalds, who in turn reiterated her country's support for a return to
the internationally recognised roadmap for Middle East peace. According to the
Jordan News Agency, Petra, the King reviewed international efforts aimed at
reviving the Middle East peace process and expressed appreciation for the role
played by the EU and Sweden in supporting the roadmap as a basis for
Israeli-Palestinian conflict settlement.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said Tuesday consultations were under
way with US officials over His Majesty's May visit to Washington, during which
both sides will discuss the situation in Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict.
“There are indeed ongoing consultations with the US. At the moment, we are
preparing hopefully for a successful visit to Washington,” Muasher told a press
conference following talks with Freivalds.
He could not elaborate on whether a date has been set for the King's visit, but
said Jordan has made its position “very clear” with regard to the Middle East
peace process. He made reference to the King's letter to US President George W.
Bush on April 8, in which the King insisted that the roadmap for peace was the
key solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The King had also stressed
that an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip must be part of the roadmap and
not an alternative to it.
King Abdullah had cut short his visit to the US earlier this month and postponed
talks with Bush in order to further clarify the US administration's position on
the worsening Palestinian-Israeli conflict, especially in light of Bush's recent
controversial statements embracing Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.
Bush had surprised the international community, including Arab states, by
welcoming Israel's pullout plan and by saying Israel might keep some of the Arab
land it seized in the 1967 war. The statements were seen as a clear shift in US
policy in the Middle East.
Muasher said Bush and US Secretary of State Colin Powell stressed that the US
administration was committed to the internationally backed roadmap.
“The president has made it clear publicly and privately that the US is not
pre-judging any final status issues. And that this is a matter left for the two
parties (Palestinians and Israelis),” Muasher added. He reiterated Jordan's
demands that final crucial issues including borders, refugees, and settlements
be solved through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Freivalds agreed, saying increased efforts and cooperation between Arab states
and the EU would help ensure a revival of the peace process and a return to the
roadmap.
EU foreign ministers have urged an immediate resumption of peace talks in the
region, saying it was the only route to achieving peace in the Middle East. In a
statement issued Monday, the ministers said the EU was determined to pursue the
course set out in the “roadmap” and called on both sides to fulfill their
obligations under the Quartet-backed peace plan.
The roadmap calls for the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state
by 2005. During the conference, Freivalds said the Quartet should “take the
lead” to enforce the peace blueprint for the region.
Making reference to the May 4 Quartet meeting in New York, Freivalds said: “We
look forward to the meeting and we hope we can make the other parties in the
Quartet understand that now is the time to take the lead and really start
enforcing the roadmap.”
“The EU is one of the parties in the Quartet and it has decided to try to make
the Quartet take responsibility for the situation and go forward on the
roadmap,” she added.
In reference to Iraq, both ministers agreed on the need for the UN to play a
much larger role there and for a speedy transfer of power to Iraqis in order to
end foreign occupation.