Jordan Times
Monday, June 26, 2006
King urges calm, warns against escalation
AMMAN (Petra) — King Abdullah on Sunday warned
against escalation between the Palestinians and the Israelis, calling on both
sides to exercise extreme self-restraint and resort to reason.
The King told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the telephone that he was
concerned about developments on the Gaza Strip border.
Abbas urged the international community to help calm the Palestinian-Israeli
situation.
On Sunday, King Abdullah met with EU and G-8 ambassadors to Jordan and urged
their countries to help defuse the Palestinian-Israeli tension.
He warned against the adverse impact of these developments on the security and
stability of the region.
The King stressed the need to intensify international efforts to bring the two
sides closer together and persuade them to take trust-building measures and
resume peace talks.
The world should also shoulder its responsibilities towards the economic
situation in the Palestinian territories and ensure aid to the Palestinians.
The Monarch, meanwhile, briefed the envoys on Jordan’s position on other
regional developments, particularly Iraq, for which he urged international
support to restore security and stability.
He also reviewed Jordan’s reform and modernisation plans.