Jordan Times
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
King condemns attacks on Lebanese army
Moving Palestinian issue in right direction gives world flexibility to tackle other Mideast problems, Monarch
tells BBC
AMMAN (JT) — King Abdullah on Monday condemned the attacks on the Lebanese army by an armed group in northern Lebanon
during the past two days, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
King Abdullah told Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora over the telephone that it is important to protect the security
and stability of Lebanon.
“It’s important to support the [Lebanese] government, the army and security forces to impose control over all parts of
Lebanon,” Petra quoted the King as saying.
Siniora, for his part, briefed the King on efforts to contain the crisis “with the minimum of losses”.
He thanked the King for his efforts to enhance Lebanese security and stability.
The international community on Monday strongly condemned renewed fighting in Lebanon, with warnings of a humanitarian
crisis and calls by some for the group to be disarmed.
Lebanese troops pounded gunmen in a Palestinian refugee camp on Monday, the second day of the bloodiest internal fighting
since the 1975-90 civil war that has now killed at least 58 people and raised deep concerns about Lebanon’s fragile
security, Agence France-Presse said.
‘We have to keep trying’
Meanwhile, the King said in a BBC interview aired yesterday that moving the Palestinian issue in the right direction
would give the international community more flexibility to deal with other Middle East problems.
“If we can move that in the positive direction, it allows us much more flexibility in dealing with the others,” the
Monarch told the BBC on the sidelines of the three-day World Economic Forum on the Middle East, which concluded on Sunday.
“I keep saying that Israeli-Palestinian issue is the core issue in the Middle East, the central issue at the heart of
all Arabs and Muslims.”
The King asked: “If we don’t have a Palestinian state, can we ever have peace between the Arabs and the Israelis?” He
said efforts should focus now on launching the peace process.
“As difficult and as dark it gets, we have to keep trying, and this is what we’re saying, specifically on the Palestinian
issue,” the King said. “We see a spike of tension and crises, and I think that’s why everybody’s scrambling to restore
calm as quickly as possible… there are voices of reason out there, and I’m hoping that they’re beginning to pick up
momentum.”
The Monarch inaugurated the WEF on Friday, urging around 1,000 politicians, economists, media leaders, intellectuals
and other prominent figures from around 50 countries to help end violence in the Middle East and be ready for the “day
after peace”.
“This is our year of opportunity. Opportunity to end violence, opportunity to make peace, opportunity to build the
regional economic powerhouse of tomorrow,” the King said in his opening remarks.
“There is a historic opportunity to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement, and achieve it now, this year,
before any more generations suffer, before any more destruction takes place.”