Jordan Times
Thursday, May 27, 1999
Monarch makes first visit to Gaza
King, Arafat call for halt to settlement activity, resumption of peace talks
By Saad G. Hattar
GAZA — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday made his first visit to Gaza and reiterated to President Yasser Arafat Jordan's unequivocal support for the Palestinians in their quest to attain their rights.
Accompanied by a high-level delegation, King Abdullah briefed Arafat on his tour of Europe, Canada and the United States.
King Abdullah's visit to Gaza came nearly 10 days after Labour Party leader Ehud Barak took the helm in Israel, replacing Benyamin Netanyahu.
The King and Arafat held a one-on-one meeting followed by broader talks at Arafat's office in the heart of Gaza.
The late King Hussein was the first Arab leader to visit the Palestinian self-rule areas after the creation of the PNA in 1994.
The two sides discussed means of breathing life into the peace process, especially on the Palestinian track, and efforts to unite Arab ranks ahead of final status talks between the PNA and Israel.
“Both sides called for the implementation of the peace accords, including Wye River, and halting settlement activities to pave the way for resuming intensive negotiations with good will,” according to a joint final communiqué.
“Implementing the Wye River accord and resuming talks [with Syria and Lebanon] from the point they reached” could serve as a goodwill gesture on the part of Barak, said Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib.
The Wye accord, reached in Washington last December, provided for further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank but was never fully implemented by Netanyahu.
The Syrian and Lebanese tracks screeched to a halt in February 1996 while the Palestinian track has been on hold since 1997.
The joint communiqué, read out to journalists by Khatib, stressed the need to revive pan-Arab coordination “at this stage as eyes focus on possible peace achievements after pushing negotiations on all tracks.”
The two sides reiterated the need for continued bilateral Jordanian-PNA coordination and trilateral coordination with Egypt, which in 1978 became the first Arab country to seal a peace treaty with Israel.
Jordan and Egypt have interests in the thorny topics of the final status negotiations such as Jerusalem, security, water sharing and refugees.
The joint statement did not touch on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's call for holding a five-party summit with the participation of the Arab parties neighbouring Israel: Syria, Jordan, the PNA, Lebanon and Egypt.
But the Jordanian foreign minister said the talks in Gaza made a “reference to broader inter-Arab coordination to include five parties.”
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is due in Amman next Saturday for talks with King Abdullah on means of jump-starting the Middle East peace process.
King Abdullah is likely to visit Cairo for talks with Mubarak on his next tour which will take him to Algeria, Tunisia and France, well-informed sources said.
Jordanian officials said that Amman would push for holding the five-party summit.
Royal Court Chief Abdul Karim Kabariti said Amman “was ever-present in any Arab gathering and will always be ready to attend any summit.”
King Abdullah was accorded a red-carpet reception at Gaza airport.
The King and Arafat reviewed a guard of honour while the national anthems of both Jordan and Palestine were played.
They drove in a motorcade over 20 kilometres from the airport to the city through shanty towns and newly-erected sky-rise tower buildings.
King Abdullah was accompanied by HRH Prince Hashem, Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh, Kabariti, Khatib, Information Minister Nasser Lawzi, Interior Minister Nayef Qadi and Trade Minister Mohammad Asfour.