Jordan Times
Friday, October 8, 2004
Weisglass' remarks 'dangerous'
Powell says US needs more assurances on Tel Aviv's commitment to roadmap because of gravity of statements
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh with agency dispatches
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on
Thursday expressed concern over statements by an Israeli official on an aspired
Palestinian statehood and demanded clarification, a Royal Court official said.
King Abdullah, who returned home from Germany yesterday, agreed with Fischer at
a meeting that remarks by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's top aide Dov Weisglass
that the premier wanted to sabotage the roadmap were “dangerous,” according to
the official.
Weisglass on Wednesday told the Haaretz daily that Israel's planned withdrawal
from the Gaza Strip was meant to shelve the establishment of a Palestinian state
indefinitely with US approval.
“The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace
process,” Weisglass was quoted as saying. “Effectively, the whole package called
the Palestinian state with all that entails has been removed indefinitely from
our agenda. And all this with authority and permission — all this with a
presidential blessing and the ratification of both Houses of Congress.”
The stalled roadmap to the Middle East peace calls for setting up an independent
Palestinian state alongside Israel by 2005.
Meeting German President Horst Koehler, the King called on the international
community to remain committed to establishing an independent Palestinian state,
the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said.
“The only means to solve the Palestinian-Israeli struggle is based on setting up
two states, living in peace and security,” King Abdullah said, noting that such
a goal could be achieved when both sides commit to the roadmap and implement its
articles.
The US yesterday asked Israel for further clarification of Weisglass' comments,
Agence France-Presse reported.
The State Department said Washington was “pleased” that Sharon's office had
restated the prime minister's commitment to the peace plan but added that
Weisglass' remarks needed additional explanation. And Secretary of State Colin
Powell said the US wanted more assurances on Israel's commitment to the roadmap
because of Weisglass' closeness to Sharon and the gravity of his remarks.
The King, meanwhile, called for an immediate halt to violence in Gaza, saying
Israel's continued building of settlements and the separation barrier were an
obstacle to any real progress to achieve a just and comprehensive peace.
The King also called on the European Union — one of the Quartet members that
charted the roadmap and a major player in the peace process — to help end the
violence and deterioration in the occupied territories as well as the suffering
of Palestinians under harsh Israeli measures. He said the current state of chaos
and violence faced in the Middle East, resulting from lack of just and
comprehensive solutions for Palestinian and Iraqi issues, feeds extremism and
terrorism.
The King also rejected attempts at linking terrorism to Islam, saying the
religion was one of compassion, tolerance, dialogue and peace.
On Iraq, King Abdullah stressed the need to achieve security in order to pave
the way for national elections.
AFP reported from Berlin that the Monarch promised to meet Iraq's interim Prime
Minister Iyad Allawi soon to discuss the Kingdom's efforts to help make the
war-torn country safe enough for elections to be held as planned next January.
The King was hopeful the elections could take place in four months' time,
despite the current wave of violence in Iraq. “We have been committed to give
this interim government as much support as possible in bringing security to a
more stable level,” the Monarch told AFP.
“We're working very closely with Prime Minister Allawi and I'm hoping to see him
again in the very near future to see what else Jordan can do to provide
assistance.” Jordanian officials “are keeping our fingers crossed” that the
elections will go ahead, he added.
Fischer was in Amman late August, as part of a regional tour that took him to
Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. The trip was aimed at putting back on track
the stalled Middle East peace process, solving the deteriorating security
situation in Iraq and discussing reforms in the region.