Jordan Times
Sunday, September 30, 2007
King to Visit Kuwait Today
AMMAN (JT) - Jordan and Egypt on Wednesday renewed their position on the upcoming Mideast peace meeting stressing the need to come up with a tangible outcome.
During talks His Majesty King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held here, the two leaders said the fall meeting, proposed by US President George W. Bush, should yield “clear-cut results with a positive impact” on the peace process.
They said final status issues should be included in the agenda to finally lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Washington has not officially announced the date nor venue of the meeting, but it is widely expected that it will take place in November.
The King and Mubarak also called on the Palestinians to adopt unified stands that aptly face up to the present challenges.
Voicing concern over living conditions of the Palestinians, especially in Gaza, the two leaders called for intensifying Arab and international efforts to ensure continued economic and humanitarian assistance to help ease the hardships.
The King and President Mubarak also discussed in their talks, which continued over an iftar banquet, developments in Iraq and Lebanon. They voiced support for efforts meant to serve these Arab countries’ sovereignty, unity and stability.
On bilateral relations, the two sides said they have high expectations from the Jordan-Egypt Higher Joint Committee meetings, slated in Amman later this year.
Talks focused on ways to enhance trade exchange and the issue of Egyptian natural gas, which Jordan is increasingly relying on as a cheaper and cleaner source of energy.
The two sides were expected to sign a new gas deal this month, which Jordanian officials described as “satisfactory”.
The first phase of this deal includes supplying Jordan with an additional 550 million cubic metres of gas a year for industries and the electricity sector.
Local news reports had claimed that Egyptian gas flow to Jordan was suspended after the supplier reneged on a pricing agreement.
But officials from both sides have dismissed these reports as baseless, with the Egyptian side insisting they were committed to the original agreement, which stipulates that the price of gas Jordan imports from Egypt will remain without any hike till 2018.
Egyptian Ambassador in Amman Ahmad Rizq told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, yesterday that the three-phase gas conveyance project was proceeding according to schedule.
“In case there was a delay in progress, it can be addressed by the two countries,” he said.
Egypt’s gas is carried to Jordan through the Arab Gas Pipeline, which also exports this vital commodity to Syria, Lebanon and Turkey with a possible further extension to Europe.