Jordan Times
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Monarch expected to meet
Olmert
AMMAN (AFP) — King Abdullah is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert and other participants at a gathering of Nobel laureates in Petra next
week, an official said, adding the event’s organisers invited the premier.
“A large number of Arab and international figures have been invited by the Elie
Wiesel Foundation for Humanity to attend the [May 15-16] gathering," in the
ancient city of Petra, the official told AFP.
Olmert's office announced the visit earlier, saying the Israeli prime minister
"accepted the Jordanian government's invitation" to attend the Petra gathering.
"During the meeting the prime minister is expected to meet King Abdullah," on
May 15, Olmert's office said.
The official said Olmert's invitation to the two-day event was jointly issued by
the Wiesel foundation and the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, rather than
the government.
Around 40 Nobel laureates and other prominent figures, including former UN
secretary general Kofi Annan and veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres, both
Nobel peace laureates, will attend the event, the official said.
The Monarch and Wiesel will jointly open the gathering "and the King will meet
all the participants", the official added.
The Petra conference, the third in as many years, will seek ways of addressing
the challenges faced by young people in the Middle East.
Olmert last travelled to Jordan in December, when he paid a surprise visit for
talks with King Abdullah on ways to kick start peace talks between Israel and
the Palestinians.
Next week, the two leaders are expected to discuss an Arab League initiative for
comprehensive Middle East peace that was revived at the March summit in Saudi
Arabia, an Israeli government official said.
The blueprint offers Israel normal relations if it withdraws from all Arab land
seized in the 1967 War, and allows for the creation of a Palestinian state and
the return of Palestinian refugees.
Israel, which rejected the plan when it was first launched at a Beirut summit in
2002, has in recent months said it could provide a basis for talks, provided
there are amendments to the refugee issue — something the Arab League has so far
refused to do.
Olmert on Monday "reiterated Israel's refusal to accept the right of return as
it is expressed in the Arab initiative", his office quoted him as saying.