Jordan Times
Thursday, May 28, 1998
In meeting with U.S. parliamentarians, King voices his support of latest U.S.
peace initiative
Agencies
His Majesty King Hussein received on Wednesday a U.S. parliamentary
delegation, headed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, paid tribute to the U.S. role in
providing military and economic assistance to Jordan, and hailed the Clinton
administration's relentless effort to push the peace process forward.
The King and the American delegation discussed bilateral relations and means of bolstering
them further as well as the latest developments in the Middle East peace process,
particularly on the Palestinian-Israeli track.
King Hussein voiced his support for the latest American initiative to resume peace talks
and to overcome all obstacles facing the peace process, saying that the establishment of
peace on this track is a step forward towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in
the region.
Regarding the Iraqi question, King Hussein called for opening a direct dialogue between
Iraq and the U.S. in order to reach a solution on all outstanding issues between the two
sides;
in preparation for lifting sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people.
In addition, King Hussein called for finding a suitable solution to end the the sanctions
imposed on Libya through resolving the crisis and suggested taking seriously the latest
Libyan proposals in this regard.
For his part, Mr. Gingrich paid tribute to King Hussein's efforts to establish peace in
the region, saying that the King enjoys high credibility throughout the world. He also
lauded the moderate policy Jordan adopts in its relations with other countries.
The meeting was attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan, Prime Minister Abdul
Salam Majali, Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Deputy Prime Minister for Development
Affairs and Foreign Minister Jawad Anani, as well as Jordan's ambassador to the U.S.,
Marwan Muasher.
On the American side, the meeting was attended by the U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Wesley
Egan.
Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Gingrich sought to calm Palestinian fury over his pro-Israeli
position by inviting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to visit the U.S. Congress.
Mr. Gingrich, who was slammed by Palestinian officials for “nauseating
hypocrisy” with his praise of Israel's hardline stance in the peace process, took a
conciliatory stance after 90 minutes of talks with Mr. Arafat in the West Bank town of
Ramallah.
“We had very positive talks. We focused on creating security for all in the
region,” Mr. Gingrich told journalists.
Mr. Arafat made no comment after the talks, but one of his senior negotiators, Nabil
Shaath, said Mr. Gingrich had invited Mr. Arafat to visit Congress.
Mr. Gingrich said he had also invited the head of the Palestinian Legislative Council,
Ahmed Qorie, to come with council members to visit Congress and proposed an internship
program for young Palestinians to work in the U.S. capital.
“We also expressed a commitment to send a congressional delegation here to spend a
great deal of time with the Palestinian people and to do factfinding and try to be
helpful,” he said.
Mr. Shaath said the meeting with Mr. Arafat “was a very important dialogue between
the Palestinians and the U.S. Congress, which is biased to Israel. Gingrich listened [to
Arafat] very carefully on all the issues.”
Mr. Gingrich, an avid supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, angered
Palestinians and the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton with a series of
statements this week praising Israel's hardline stance in negotiations and criticising Mr.
Clinton's Mideast policy.
In a speech to Israel's parliament on Tuesday, Mr. Gingrich went far beyond official U.S.
policy by declaring that the U.S. Congress fully supported Israel's claim that Jerusalem
was its “united and eternal capital.”
During a later press conference Mr. Gingrich also accused Mr. Arafat's Palestinian
National Authority of “inciting violence” against Israel every time it fails to
get its way in negotiations.
Mr. Qorie slammed Mr. Gingrich for his statements on Jerusalem. “His hypocrisy is
nauseating. Jerusalem will be the Palestinian capital despite Gingrich,” he said,
quoted by the Palestinian daily Al Ayam.
Such statements had Palestinian officials hedging until the last minute on whether Mr.
Arafat would agree to even meet Mr. Gingrich, a conservative Republican from Georgia and
one of Mr. Clinton's fiercest critics in Congress.
In Washington the White House assailed the House speaker for “outrageous” and
“highly offensive” remarks during his four-day visit to Israel.
White House spokesman Michael McCurry was asked about comments Mr. Gingrich made last week
that U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was acting as an agent of the Palestinians
because she was pressuring Israel to accept a U.S. compromise formula for reviving peace
negotiations.
“His suggestion that the secretary of state is loyal to anyone but the people of the
United States of America is offensive, and highly offensive,” he said.
The U.S. plan reportedly demands that Israel transfer a further 13-15 per cent of the West
Bank to self-rule as a step towards launching negotiations on a final peace agreement
between the two sides.
Mr. Netanyahu has refused to cede so much territory, saying this would undermine Israel's
security interests.
U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin called Mr. Gingrich's reported comments
“appalling and outrageous.”
Mr. Gingrich's backing for Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem runs counter to U.S.
policy which has never recognised Israel's 1967 illegal annexation of Arab east Jerusalem
and says the future of the city must be determined in peace negotiations.