Jordan Times
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Next two years crucial
for Middle East peace — King
By Mahmoud Habboush
DEAD SEA — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday
said people in the Middle East would not be able to live in security and peace
if a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was not reached in the next
two years, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
“Jordan, in cooperation with Egypt, seeks to help the Palestinians and Israelis
put the peace process back on track,” the Monarch said during a meeting with
members of the InterAction Council, which opened its 24th annual meeting at the
King Hussein Ben Talal Convention Centre yesterday.
In his address at the opening ceremony of the meeting, attended by HRH Prince
Feisal, Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa said it was important to help the
Palestinian people “face the current crisis,” calling on donors to help them
directly.
“We welcome the French suggestion to form an international fund that includes
donations from the EU... this will help bring an end to the economic crisis in
the Palestinian territories,” Musa said.
More than 50 former presidents, prime ministers and high ranking officials
attended the gathering, which will focus on the “Islamic World and the West.”
Participants include Helmut Schmidt, former chancellor of Germany and the
honorary chairman of the council, former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov
and former Swedish prime minister Ingvar Carlsson.
“We hope the results of this meeting will help calm the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict and achieve stability in Iraq,” said Carlsson, who is co-chairman of
the council.
He said the meeting seeks to come with a set of recommendations that will help
reach mutual understanding on different international and regional issues.
Council members jointly develop recommendations and practical solutions for the
political, economic and social problems confronting humanity.
Among its members are former US president Bill Clinton and former Jordanian
prime minister Abdul Salam Majali.
In his keynote address, Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson said reviving the
Middle East peace process should be “based on achieving the two-state solution.”
“This will require negotiations, respect for international law and a recognition
on all sides that terrorism in all of its forms is rejected,” Eliasson added.
The Tokyo-based InterAction Council, established in 1983, is an independent
international organisation to mobilise the experience, energy and international
contacts of a group of statesmen who have held the highest office in their own
countries, according to the council website.