Jordan Times
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Jordan hails Arafat ceasefire call
AMMAN (AFP) — Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib on Tuesday hailed as “positive” a ceasefire announcement by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and urged Israel to follow suit. “This is a positive step on behalf of the Palestinian leadership and President Arafat, and we hope it will be reciprocated by Israel,” Khatib told reporters in Amman.He said Israel must now “end the use of force, the end of aggression and start lifting the closure against the Palestinian” territories.
“This is the only way we think to end this crisis,” in the Middle East which has been plagued by a year-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
“There is no solution through the use of force. The only option is the political course,” to secure a lasting peace between Arabs and Israelis, Khatib said.
Khatib also renewed Jordan's opposition to terrorism and its readiness to cooperate with the world community to eradicate this phenomenon in the wake of the Sept. 11 suicide attacks in the United States.
“We have been practising international cooperation with all our friends in the international community to combat and confront terrorism because we have been targetted by terrorism repeatedly,” Khatib said. But he stressed that the fight against terrorism in the wake of the New York and Washington attacks should distinguish between acts of terror and Islam.