Jordan Times
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
King, Abbas meet over peace
process, conference
AMMAN (JT) - His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday held talks with Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, who outlined the outcome of his meeting with US
President George W. Bush.
The Abbas-Bush encounter took place last Monday on the sidelines of the United
Nations General Assembly meetings in New York.
Talks yesterday also covered other developments in the Middle East peace process
and efforts to find a just solution to the conflict, as Palestinians seek to
enter into final status negotiations with the Israelis.
Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA), among other Arab counties, want the
thorny issues of Jerusalem, the refugees and permanent borders of the envisioned
Palestinian state to be placed on the agenda of the peace meeting called for by
Washington and slated tentatively for November.
King Abdullah and President Abbas, who hold frequent one-on-one meetings to
consult over developments in the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict,
reiterated in their meeting keenness to sustain coordination regarding the
forthcoming conference. The event is likely to attract the participation of key
regional players such as Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, among others.
The King pointed out the need for confidence-building measures to be taken by
Israel to support the PA. Tel Aviv is also required to set a clear-cut agenda
for the negotiations over a final solution, he added.
In remarks to the press following the meeting, Abbas said he would meet with the
King again after his Wednesday meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams will also hold their first formal
meeting tomorrow. The meetings, including Abbas-Olmert encounter, were
rescheduled for Wednesday instead of today due to “technical reasons”, according
to news reports.
The teams would work on a “joint statement to be presented at the conclusion of
the upcoming international meeting”.
Abbas told reporters that negotiations with the Israelis seek to arrive at an
agreement they will present to the international meeting in the fall.
President Abbas stressed the agreement must encompass final status issues, that
also include Israeli settlements in the West Bank, security and water, adding
“there must be solutions to these issues before we go to the conference”.
According to Abbas, the 12 Arab countries comprising the follow-up committee set
by the Arab League will attend the international conference in addition to the
secretary general of the Arab League.
He said 25 countries from around the world, including the permanent members of
the Security Council, members of the Quartet and Islamic countries such as
Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia, will also take part in the event.