Jordan Times
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
King, Mubarak warn against schemes by Jewish extremists
SHARM EL SHEIKH (Agencies) — His Majesty King
Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday warned against attempts
by extremist Jewish groups to enter Al Aqsa Mosque compound.
At a meeting in this Red Sea resort, King Abdullah and Mubarak reiterated that
such extremist attempts threaten the current truce between the Palestinians and
Israelis. Police on Monday fired stun grenades at hundreds of Palestinians who
were protesting a tour of the compound by a Jewish group, marking the 38th
anniversary of Israel's capture of the holy city.
In Amman, the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs
condemned such “provocative acts by Zionist settlers.”
During their meeting, the King and the president said that the Palestinians and
Israelis should immediately begin talks on final status issues and fully
implement the agreements reached here during a February summit.
Reiterating that establishing a geographically connected Palestinian state is
the only way to help end violence and achieve peace, the two leaders said
President Mahmoud Abbas needs support to empower the Palestinian Authority and
build a strong economy. Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad told
reporters after the meeting that the King and Mubarak “regretted that progress
on implementing the understandings reached in Sharm El Sheikh remained slow.”
It did not happen “as we had hoped,” he said.
Awad mentioned the hiatus in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and said Israel was
also delaying the handover of certain towns in the West Bank to the Palestinian
Authority.
However, he said: “The past few days saw positive movement on the part of the
Israeli side towards implementation of these understandings.”
“There was the release of 400 detainees” on Thursday, he said, adding that the
move was in line with commitments to free 900 prisoners.
Awad said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would visit Egypt, Israel and
the West Bank this month to follow up the implementation of the February summit,
which was also attended by King Abdullah.
On Iraq, the King and Mubarak expressed support for government steps to involve
all the citizens in the ongoing political process.