Jordan Times
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Jordan, UAE back peace efforts
AMMAN (Agencies) - His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday continued his efforts
to garner support for Mideast peace and hammer out a unified Arab stand ahead of
a US-proposed Mideast meeting, expected this fall.
The King flew yesterday to Abu Dhabi where he held talks with UAE President
Sheikh Khalifa Al Nahayan that focused on developments in the Middle East.
The two leaders, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, stressed support
for peace efforts and steps meant to jump start Palestinian-Israeli negotiations
that, they said, should lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state
with sovereignty and fixed borders.
King Abdullah and Al Nahayan underscored the need to prepare well for the peace
conference.
In July, US President George W. Bush proposed holding an international
conference to revive the faltering Middle East peace process, largely welcomed
by the international community.
King Abdullah and Al Nahayan said the success of the meeting, which should be
based on the international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, will have
a positive and significant impact on the security and stability of the entire
region.
The two leaders renewed their support to the Palestinian stand calling on Israel
to discuss final status issues.
Jordan has called on Israel to enter talks with the Palestinians over the thorny
final status issues like Jerusalem, borders and refugees and to come up with
tangible results ahead of the meeting.
The talks, which continued over a lunch banquet, also covered the political
crisis in Lebanon. The two leaders called on all Lebanese political groups to
start dialogue and overcome differences to enhance national accord.
On Iraq, the two leaders said the participation of all Iraqis in the political
process and national unity are the guarantees of security and stability in the
violence-ripped country.
Talks also covered bilateral ties, with the two leaders stressing their keenness
to move forward with enhancing and cementing cooperation in all fields,
especially in economic, commercial and investment fields.
The UAE was the third country visited by the King in one week. He held talks
Tuesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria. Similar statements
were issued regarding Mideast peace, stressing the need to prepare properly for
the fall meeting and support for the Palestinian government and the unity of the
Palestinians.
On Sunday, the Monarch was in Paris, where he met with President Nicolas Sarkozy
and called on France and the EU to play a more active role in peace efforts.
The King also discussed Middle East developments in Amman earlier Sunday with
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
The King’s activities during the week came amid a flurry of diplomatic moves
aimed at preparing the groundwork for the conference, tentatively scheduled for
November.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema and Middle East Quartet envoy Tony
Blair, along with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Prodi, were in the
region with busy schedules.
On Wednesday, Arab League chief Amr Musa warned against what he called Israeli
attempts to lower expectations and downplay the political meaning of the
upcoming peace conference.
“We must strongly resist attempts to drain the conference of its meaning and to
lower expectations, which I see signs of in Israeli statements,” Musa told the
22-member league.
Otherwise, he told the Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, there would be
“further deterioration in the region”.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - who
have been at odds over what exactly they want to achieve beforehand - are
scheduled to meet several times to find common ground before the summit in
November.
The Palestinians have long demanded a detailed framework agreement on core
issues such as Jerusalem, borders and refugees, while Israel has talked about a
more vague declaration of principles.
Musa warned against turning the summit into a “political demonstration without
meaning” because “that would be very, very harmful to Arab interests and the
regional situation”. He also called for the inclusion of “all parties
concerned”, a reference to Syria, which has not been invited to the conference.
A statement issued after the meeting said Lebanon should also attend the
meeting, which the communiqué praised as “containing positive elements that can
be built on”, Petra reported from Cairo.