Jordan Times
Tuesday, June 8, 1999
King, Sultan Qaboos call for reviving Mideast peace process
By Caroline Faraj
AQABA — His Majesty King Abdullah and visiting Omani Sultan Qaboos Ben Said on Monday reiterated the need to combine efforts to attain a comprehensive peace in the region, a senior official said on Monday.
“King Abdullah and Sultan Qaboos discussed prospects for reviving the Middle East peace process, and called for the resumption of negotiations between Israel's new government under Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak and its Arab neighbours — namely Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians,” one senior official, who did not wish to be named, told the Jordan Times.
“The two leaders agreed that any progress on these tracks would help in regaining the people's confidence in the whole peace process,” the official added.
Arab states have accused outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of blocking progress towards peace by failing to implement interim deals with the Palestinians.
King Abdullah, who greeted Sultan Qaboos at Aqaba Airport as a 21-gun salute boomed, held one-on-one talks on Monday at the King's seaside palace, followed by an expanded meeting which was attended by their delegations.
The expanded meeting was attended by HRH Prince Mohammad, Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh, Chief of the Royal Court Abdul Karim Kabariti, other senior officials, and several high raking Omani officials.
King Abdullah hosted lunch and dinner banquets in honour of the sultan and his accompanying delegation.
The official said that reviving Arab solidarity as well as ways of strengthening bilateral ties and consolidating economic relations were on the agenda of the talks.
“The two leaders stressed the importance of joint cooperation over issues of mutual concern and the Arab Nation,” said the official. He added, “They also stressed the importance of reviving Arab solidarity, transcending differences among brothers and reactivating joint Arab efforts.”
On economic cooperation, the official said “the leaders reiterated the importance of intensifying meetings between their senior officials in order to follow up on the agreements and decisions taken, and ways to enhance relations and increase cooperation between the two countries, in economic, cultural, educationnal and information fields,” said the official.
Oman, which last year gave Jordan $10 million in grants, was one of many countries which pledged to support Jordan, struggling with an economic recession and a $7 billion foreign debt.
Another official said “the talks also tackled increasing Jordan's exports to Oman, new opportunities for Jordanian workers in the Omani labour market, and a general increase in trade and investment between the two countries.”
Jordan and Oman maintained close ties under late King Hussein, who provided Oman with both military and security training since the early 70s, in addition to the professional labour.
“Jordanian-Omani relations are very special, and have not been affected over the years, even during the peak of the 1990-91 Gulf crisis, which resulted in strained relations among several Arab and Gulf countries,” said the official.
Sultan Qaboos and King Abdullah met in Muscat on April 10, when the King toured some of the Gulf countries following his accession to the Throne in Feb. 7.
Sultan Qaboos, who attended the funeral of King Hussein, is expected to leave Aqaba Tuesday for Italy.