Jordan Times
Saturday, June 5, 1999
King, Saudi crown prince urge Barak to revive peace process
By Caroline Faraj with Agencies
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz called on Friday on Israel's Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak to show goodwill by reviving the Middle East peace talks on all fronts.
In a joint communiqué at the end of two days of talks, King Abdullah and the visiting Saudi crown prince agreed that progress on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks were a prerequisite to a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement.
“The two leaders are supportive of efforts to push the peace process on all fronts to attain the comprehensive, just and permanent peace which the peoples of the region strive for,” the statement said.
Earlier, Prince Abdullah said no regional settlement can be achieved without a solution to the Palestinian cause — the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
He also insisted that Arab East Jerusalem must be returned to the Arab fold. Israel captured the eastern sector of Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.
“The two sides agreed on the importance of joint cooperation over issues that concern the two countries and the one Arab Nation, stressing the importance of reviving Arab solidarity and reactivating joint Arab effort,” the communiqué said.
On bilateral economic cooperation, the joint statement said: “ Prince Abdullah has agreed to an unspecified hike in imports from Jordan and for closer economic cooperation.”
Foreign news agencies reported on Friday that Jordan sought joint business ventures, the lifting of a nine-year Saudi ban on Jordanian agricultural produce and the cancellation of more than $200 million in debts to the Saudis.
They quoted Jordanian officials saying that “King Abdullah raised with the visiting Saudi prince ways in which Saudi Arabia could help Amman overcome its economic problems.”
According to Reuters, the officials also said “the talks tackled increasing Jordan's agricultural exports to Saudi Arabia, opening up the Saudi labour market to Jordanian workers, and a general increase in trade and investment between the two countries.”
Saudi Arabia was one of many countries which pledged to support Jordan, struggling with an economic recession, following the death of King Hussein on Feb. 7.
Jordan, is now lobbying the G-7 for a substantial debt write-off on about $7 billion of its foreign debt.
“Prince Abdullah's visit to Jordan also included discussions on ways of strengthening Saudi-Jordanian relations, one senior official told the Jordan Times.
However, the official denied all news reports that Riyadh might cancel around $200 million worth of debts.
“During the expanded meeting, no specific figure was mentioned at all,” the official added.
“What we really care for is the close and warm relation that Jordan and Saudi Arabia is enjoying,” added the official.
He was referring to the exchange of visits and activities that the leaders, senior officials and the private sectors in the two countries have been witnessing recently.
“Jordan is becoming one of the major stops in all Saudi trips,” said the official, then added, “this is a clear sign of our strong relations and the Saudi support to the Kingdom.”
A Saudi private sector delegation is due here this week for talks on future cooperation and joint ventures with Jordanians.
King Abdullah and Prince Abdullah held one-on-one talks on Thursday, followed by an expanded meeting with their delegations and dinner banquet in honour of the prince.
Relations between Jordan and Saudi Arabia improved dramatically this year following strains brought about by the 1990-91 Gulf crisis.
Saudi-Jordanian ties began to improve two years ago, and last December King Hussein sent then Prince Abdullah to meet Saudi leaders.
In April, King Abdullah paid his first official trip outside Jordan since becoming King when he flew to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Fahd and the crown prince.
Ahead of Crown Prince Abdullah's departure on Friday, King Abdullah discussed with the Saudi prince several bilateral, regional and international issues as well as the peace process.
The King thanked Prince Abdullah for his country's continuous support to Jordan's trade, economy and human resources fields, and to his efforts towards the joint Arab action.
Prince Abdullah, who left Amman for Cairo, sent a cable to the King, stressing that the two countries' joint ties are much stronger than political changes, and that Saudi Arabia will always support Jordan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Jordan was the sixth stop on a tour that has taken the Saudi Crown Prince to South Africa, Italy, Morocco, Libya, Syria