His Majesty King Abdullah II
Interview with BBC
February 9, 2005
On the sidelines of yesterday's Sharm Al
Sheikh Summit His Majesty King Abdullah II conducted an interview with BBC's
Lyse Doucet. Following are the main highlights of the interview:
Doucet: King Abdullah, we have lost track at the number of times that
there have been summits on the edge of the Red Sea, commitments to peace and
they have been broken, why should this time be any different?
HM King Abdullah: Well, because I truly believe that we are running of
options, I mean this is an opportunity. We have a new leadership of the
Palestinians, we have a commitment of Israel to deal with the Palestinian as
partners for peace, in total honesty, if I go to President Bush statements
several years ago when he announced a viable, independent Palestinian state. Our
concern is the viable issue, geographic viability, if we do not solve the
problem over the next year or two then there may not be enough of geographic
Palestinian lands to create a two-state solution. So this is a crucial time to
reengage with the Road Map and get the Israelis and Palestinians back together
because if we do not find a solution in 2005-2006 we may not have a viable state
to talk about.
Doucet: But with all due respect, when these leaders met at the Jordanian
Red Sea Resort Aqaba, a year and a half ago, they said much the same, Why is now
any different aside from the election of Mahmoud Abbas as the new Palestinian
leader?
HM King Abdullah: Well, again where have we gotten ourselves since two
years ago. I mean there has been more violence, more frustration, more
destruction that both Israelis and Palestinians have to pay the price for. And
so it is imperative that we put our different aside and move forward, again
I..Mahmoud Abbas had a difficult tenure two years ago. He did not get the
support that should have believe from the international community and to an
extent from Israeli government that could have given a lot to the Palestinian
people to bring some sort of authority to their government. I think people
understand the stakes better now and a result from the discussions that we have
had with the Israelis and with the Palestinians as well as the statements that
were articulated by both the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership, it seems to
be very serious and they understand what's at stake.
Doucet: But you sense that they came here with different agendas. The
Israelis very much emphasized the need to improve security, the Palestinians
want to move on to political discussion, which they emphasized, if there isn't,
they won't be able to improve security.
HM King Abdullah: Well, there has always been different levels of accents
on negotiations where the Israelis and the Palestinians have met. The Israelis
hold fast to the issue of security, which I think all of us understand, but I
hope what today accomplished was to go beyond security is more important to
really articulate the light at the end of the tunnel. And again on discussions
from what we have heard from both sides, I think that Sharm Al Sheikh today was
a bit more than just security. I Think that is a very positive step towards the
London conference 1st of March and we just have to keep the momentum.