Jordan Times
Thursday, November 11, 1999
King says visit to Qatar helped enhancing joint Arab action
AMMAN (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday said his talks in Qatar with Emir Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa Al Thani contributed to enhancing joint Arab action.
“Our talks have contributed to Arab cooperation and the achievement of Arab solidarity and economic integration which will enhance Arab joint action and enable us all to face the challenges,” the King said in a letter to Sheikh Hamad upon the conclusion of a two-day official visit to Qatar.
The King, who extended an invitation to Sheikh Hamad to visit Jordan, said he was pleased to find that Jordanian and Qatari stands on issues of interest to both countries and to the Arab World were identical.
Talks in Doha between King Abdullah and the emir focused on bilateral ties, pan-Arab affairs, economic integration and the Middle East peace process.
Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania, accompanied by a high-level delegation, returned to Amman on Wednesday.
In a statement to the press in Doha Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh said: “At this stage Jordan is coordinating its position with the Arab brother states with regard to the Middle East peace process aiming to achieve a just and durable peace which can be achieved only through the restoration of the Palestinian people's rights.”
Rawabdeh said the Arab Nation should back the Palestinians in their efforts to establish their independent state on their national soil and should support Syrian and Lebanese stands on the need to resume peace talks from the point where they left off in order to regain their full rights.
Referring to the question of the Palestinian refugees, Rawabdeh said, “if the final [status] talks lead to a settlement, the refugees who are Jordanian citizens of Palestinian origin will be given the choice to stay or return to their homeland. The Jordanian government will also defend their rights and help them to return and receive compensation.”
Rawabdeh strongly rejected the idea of settling Palestinian refugees in Jordan saying “some people dream or wish to see the settlement of the refugees here, but this has not been suggested to us and we have never heard nor will we hear of such a notion.”
The prime minister denied that Jordan has given up its administration of the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.
He said Jordan has safeguarded the holy places so that they will not fall in the hands of the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs.
But he also said that “once the Palestinians have become capable of handling the responsibility of managing and protecting these shrines, Jordan will be ready to respond because we do not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of the Palestinian state.”