Jordan Times
Sunday, September 23, 2001
Gust of diplomatic activity to sweep Amman
By Francesca Sawalha
AMMAN — A gust of diplomatic activity will sweep Amman this week, ahead of talks at the White House on Friday between His Majesty King Abdullah and President George W. Bush on regional and international developments following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.The first Arab leader to meet with Bush after the New York and Washington attacks, King Abdullah is expected to reiterate Jordan's already-pledged support to the international community in fighting terrorism.
Officials also predict that the King will use the talks to advance the two most crucial Arab concerns at the moment: Putting an end to one year of bloodshed in the occupied territories and resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations; and avoiding any further military strikes on Iraq.
The King will make it clear in his Washington talks that “the whole campaign against international terrorism will fail if they [the Americans] do not solve the Palestinian-Israeli problem,” an Arab diplomat close to official thinking told The Jordan Times on Saturday.
“The other bottom line for Jordan is `No attacks on Iraq',” he said.
A senior Jordanian official said that a much-awaited announcement on the Jordan-US Free Trade Agreement, signed in Oct. 2000 but still awaiting the US Senate's approval, was expected to coincide with the King's visit. The US Congress, the official suggested, was expected to ratify the agreement by acclamation on Monday.
Jordan's ambassador to Washington, Marwan Muasher, was quoted on Saturday as saying the ratification process of the Jordan-US FTA could be completed next Monday. “The administration pushed for the ratification of the FTA — a move aimed at boosting ties with Jordan and reaffirming American support to the Kingdom,” Muasher said in comments carried by the Arabic press yesterday. It would be the fourth such agreement ever granted by the US, after similar deals with Canada, Mexico and Israel.
As support by moderate Arab and Muslim countries is deemed crucial to the success of President Bush's planned “crusade” against terror, a procession of Western officials here was set to start late yesterday, with the arrival of the British Chief of Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, who was scheduled to leave the Kingdom early today.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner were expected here on Monday, a government source announced yesterday.
Straw was also to fly to Tehran on the first top-level visit by a British minister to Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The EU “troika” — including High Representative for foreign and security policy Javier Solana, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, and External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten — will visit Jordan as part of a regional tour this week, the source also said, adding that no date had yet been set for the visit.
“The Europeans are trying to rationalise the reaction to the terror attacks, they are not looking at it as just a security and military operation,” a Jordanian official said.
At a special meeting in Brussels on Friday night, EU leaders expressed concerns that the US-planned campaign against terror — expected to target Afghanistan first and code-named “Infinite Justice” — could degenerate into a wider western-Islamic confrontation. The 15 leaders therefore agreed to use their contacts in the Middle East to help limit the potential fall-out of US-led strikes against countries in the region.
“The fight against the scourge of terrorism will be all the more effective if it is based on an in-depth political dialogue with those countries and regions of the world in which terrorism comes into being,” the EU leaders agreed in their declaration at the end of Friday night's special session.
“Jordan and the Europeans are trying to make the American response [to the attacks] more rational, are trying to have a well-calculated reaction, with specific targets and that could be better justified and justifiable,” the Jordanian official said.
According to a Western ambassador here, the EU hopes that, if it uses its influence to bring Middle Eastern countries on board the US-led coalition against terrorism, Washington in return will play a more active role in finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.