Jordan Times
Monday, July 09, 2007
King reiterates Jordan backs Palestinian unity
King Abdullah on Sunday said Jordan backs efforts to enhance the unity of the Palestinians, help them restore their rights
and establish an independent state, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
“There is a need to bridge the gap because the continuation of the Palestinian divide will deepen the suffering of the
Palestinian people and hinder efforts to achieve any progress in the peace process,” the King told Mohammad Saqr, the speaker
of the Arab League interim parliament.
Saqr briefed the King at a Royal Court meeting on his efforts to launch a dialogue between Fateh and Hamas following the
Islamists’ takeover of Gaza.
On Saturday, Saqr met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and decided to form a joint committee to look into means of
reaching a solution to the Palestinian impasse.
Saqr yesterday held similar talks with Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib, who is expected this week to visit Israel with
his Egyptian counterpart Ahmad Aboul Gheit in a bid to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.
“We expect to receive them on their visit Thursday but the date has not been fixed definitively,” an Israeli foreign
ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
Egypt said last week the planned trip was part of Arab efforts to restart the peace process.
It would come four days ahead of an expected meeting in Egypt of the international Middle East peace Quartet — the European
Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, AFP reported.
The Arab League has tasked Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel, with
trying to persuade the Jewish state to accept a Saudi-inspired peace plan.
The initiative, first adopted in 2002 and revived in March, offers normalisation of ties in return for full withdrawal from
Arab lands seized in the 1967 war, the creation of a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees.
Israel initially rejected the plan but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has since cautiously welcomed parts of the initiative
although Israel wants amendments to the refugee issue.