Jordan Times
Tuesday, November 10, 1998
No date set for King's return, reports 'inaccurate' — minister
AMMAN (J.T.) — The date of His Majesty King Hussein's return to Jordan will be only decided by doctors overseeing his chemotherapy treatment at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S., Information Minister Nasser Judeh said Monday.
Judeh said reports carried recently in the local press about the King's return were “inaccurate.”
“Either King Hussein or an official designated by him will announce the date of his return,” Judeh told correspondents at a weekly press briefing.
Local newspapers quoted several officials this week as saying that the King was expected to return at the end of this month and address Parliament in his Speech from the Throne on Nov. 30.
Judeh also said Parliament would probably convene on Dec. 1. The Constitution sets Oct. 1 as the opening date of an ordinary session, but the King has the power to postpone the convening of Parliament for up to two months.
Asked if there were plans to hold a Jordanian-Egyptian-Syrian summit in Cairo soon, Judeh said that the Kingdom maintains continuous contacts with the two countries and that no meeting had been scheduled.
During a recent visit to Jordan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Musa reportedly offered Egyptian diplomacy to defuse tensions between Jordan and Syria and improve “the general Arab atmosphere.”
Following a visit to Egypt by Syrian President Hafez Assad on Oct. 31 to discuss the Middle East peace process, Egyptian President Mubarak told journalists that “[Egypt] is talking to Syria and Jordan as brothers, and [Egypt] hopes that their differences can be reconciled. Their differences are few and the two countries are solving their problems among themselves.”
On the Iraqi front, the minister said Jordan is “worried” about the recent developments following Baghdad's decision to halt cooperation with U.N. arms inspectors. He stressed the importance of reaching a solution to implement U.N. resolutions that would allow the sanctions on Iraq to be lifted and added that he hoped dialogue would continue between Iraq and the U.N.
On the Wye River accord, Judeh said that Jordan is looking forward to seeing the implementation of the deal on the ground and that the Kingdom will not spare any efforts in helping end the deadlocked Palestinian-Israeli peace process.