Jordan Times
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
'Power handover will end violence'
By Khalid Dalal
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah is expected today to tell US President George
W. Bush that empowering Iraqis would help end violence in their country, a
senior Royal Court official said on Monday.
King Abdullah will discuss with Bush in
Washington the need for a bigger UN role in the neighbouring country to back
Iraqi rebuilding efforts, the official said.
Iraqis should have the final say whether to keep foreign forces and Jordan will
not send any troops to the Arab country, the King will reiterate to Bush,
according to the official. Earlier this month, the UN Security Council voted
unanimously to approve a resolution that endorses the June 30 transfer of
sovereignty to Iraq and gives authorisation for a US-led multinational force. On
the Palestinian issue, the Monarch and Bush will discuss reviving the peace
process and the implementation of the internationally-supported roadmap
blueprint, which envisions an independent Palestinian state by 2005.
“Talks between the two leaders are important at this stage because they coincide
with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's announced plans to withdraw from the
Gaza Strip,” the official told The Jordan Times yesterday.
Sharon's proposal envisages the pullout of all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza
Strip and four other isolated enclaves in the northern West Bank by the end of
next year.
“The pullout should be in line with roadmap and the Arab peace initiative,” the
official stressed.
The initiative calls for Israeli withdrawal from all territories it occupied
since 1967 and return of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland in return
for recognition of the Jewish state and normal relations.
King Abdullah and Bush will also hold talks on means to boost bilateral
relations, particularly economic and military assistance to Jordan, the official
said.
The King is expected later to discuss similar issues with several congressmen.
King Abdullah attended earlier this month the G-8 summit in the US and has
stayed on, touring several cities to promote bilateral relations between the two
countries, namely economic ties.
In early May, he held talks with Bush that centred on ways of making progress in
the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, winning assurances from the US president
that his administration was committed to the creation of a Palestinian state.