Jordan Times
Sunday, September 4, 2005
King to Visit Turkey, Vatican, US AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah is expected to travel to Turkey on a one-day working visit this week and later this month head to the Vatican City and the US, where he will attend the UN 2005 World Summit, a senior Royal Court official confirmed on Saturday. The official, meanwhile, said a reported visit by King Abdullah to Israel for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon next week “was not yet scheduled.” News agencies over the weekend quoted senior Israeli diplomatic sources as saying that the King would be visiting Jerusalem next week. In Turkey, the Monarch is to meet President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Agence France-Presse quoted a Turkish foreign ministry statement as saying. The King visited Turkey in March, where he discussed bilateral ties, the Middle East peace process and the situation in Iraq. According to the official, the King will leave for the US later this month to attend the UN 2005 World Summit. The 2005 World Summit, which will convene between September 14 and 16 at the UN headquarters in New York, is expected to be the largest gathering of world leaders in history. An estimated 171 leaders are scheduled to attend. The summit is seen as a unique opportunity for leaders representing 191 member states to take bold action on key priorities to deal more effectively with the targeted areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations. The King is expected to meet many world leaders and officials on the sidelines of the UN World Summit, where he will discuss the situation in Iraq, the Middle East peace process and bilateral relations. The King is also scheduled to participate in the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative slated for September 15-17 in New York City, according to a letter delivered to The Jordan Times. The conference, which coincides with the UN World Summit, will hold workshops that focus on how to reduce poverty, use religion as a force for reconciliation and conflict resolution, implement new business strategies and technologies to combat climate change and strengthen governance. En route to the US, the King is scheduled to meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vaitcan City in Rome. The meeting is “to build on the strong relations that Jordan had established with Pope John Paul II, and discuss ways in which Muslims and Christians can continue to work together for peace, tolerance and coexistence.”
By a staff reporter