Jordan Times
Friday, June 1, 2007
King urges EU to aid
Palestinian educational, health institutions
By Khalid Neimat
with agency dispatches
AMMAN — King Abdullah on Thursday called on the
European Union to support Palestinian educational and health institutions in
order to help enhance their services, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The King told EU Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering at a meeting that he
appreciates European humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, urging the EU
to maintain the aid to help ease the suffering of Palestinians and improve their
living conditions.
Poettering’s visit to Jordan was the third leg of regional tour that included
Israel and the Palestinian territories.
He was quoted by Agence France-Presse as telling a news conference that he had
asked Israel to release some $700 million owed to the Palestinians.
“I have asked my Israeli counterparts, and I have said it even in my speech
before the Knesset, that the $700 million which is Palestinian money from
customs income should be given to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas so that he
can pay the teachers and the policemen,” AFP quoted Poettering as saying.
Israeli officials said on Thursday their country was prepared to transfer
withheld tax revenues to the Palestinians through a mechanism that guarantees
none of the money will go to the Hamas-led government or fighters, Reuters
reported.
The officials said the US and EU have been discussing the issue and that Israel
would be ready to release funds once a mechanism with sufficient safeguards were
agreed upon and put in place (see report on page 4).
The Monarch, meanwhile, said Europe plays a key role to achieve peace in the
Middle East, highlighting efforts to back the Arab Peace Initiative, which was
reendorsed at the Riyadh Arab summit in March, according to Petra.
The peace plan offers Israel normal ties in return for withdrawal from Arab
territories occupied in 1967, the creation of an independent Palestinian state
and a solution to the refugee issue.
Poettering, who invited the King to address the European Parliament, also
reiterated the EU’s support for a two-state solution to resolve
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“The European Parliament is in favour of two states. We want a safe Israeli
state where the people can live in safety. We want a safe Palestinian state,
where the people can live in dignity,” Poettering said.
He also called on Fateh and Hamas to cooperate and set aside their differences
for the sake of peace.