Jordan Times
Monday, May 23, 2005
King says Iraq will 'succeed'
AMMAN (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah said he believes that Iraq will
"succeed" and that the majority of its Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis want to protect
their country from a civil war.
In a recent interview with The Washington Post and Newsweek, King Abdullah said
Jordan calls on all Iraqis, particularly the Sunnis, to take part in building
Iraq's future and cooperate with Iraqi government.
The King told Lally Weymouth that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani asked him to
look into means to solve the problem with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed
Chalabi.
"Jordan believes that relations with Iraq should be strong, so we should do our
best solving this issue, which is financial and not political," King Abdullah
said.
The Monarch, meanwhile, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the
Israeli-Palestinian situation, adding that the two sides were focusing on
security issues.
"...[But] what happens after the withdrawal from Gaza? ...We are running out of
time on what we consider a viable independent Palestinian state," he said.
The King urged the international community, mainly the US and Israel, to support
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and strengthen his capabilities.
"He needs to show the Palestinians that today is better than yesterday," the
King said.
On domestic affairs, King Abdullah said he felt that reform plans were not
moving fast enough.
"Now, we are doing our utmost to push reform."