Jordan Times
Monday, November 19, 2007
King, Assad hold landmark
summit
By Khalid Neimat
DAMASCUS - His Majesty King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday
held talks that resulted in a Syrian decision to free a number of Jordanian
prisoners and agreement on outstanding issues between the two countries.
The two leaders stressed their keenness to arrive at solutions to all
outstanding issues between the two countries “once and for all”, especially with
regard to economic relations, borders, water and security cooperation, in
addition to reaching an end to the issue of Jordanian prisoners in Syria.
According to a joint communiqué following the talks yesterday, several
agreements have been marked for signature including an agreement to provide
Jordan with its need of wheat from Syria to be concluded during the next meeting
of the Joint Jordanian-Syrian Higher Committee (see box for full text of
communiqué).
The joint committee’s meeting was supposed to be held in October in Amman, but
was postponed till the middle of this month, as agreed during a phone call
between the King and Assad.
Ministerial and technical teams conducted intensive preparatory negotiations
ahead of the higher committee's 12th meeting scheduled for October 25.
Both leaders issued directives to their respective governments to convene a
meeting of the committee in Amman before the end of the year with the aim of
signing bilateral agreements discussed, and to translate these agreements into
programmes and actions with specific timelines.
According to a Royal Court statement, the two sides also agreed to expedite the
implementation of existing bilateral agreements, especially with regard to both
countries' shares in the water of the Yarmouk River basin.
On the issue of border delineation, the King, who returned home later Sunday,
and Assad agreed that the technical committees should commence their work
immediately to settle the issue.
Regarding joint Arab action, both leaders stressed their determination to
activate Arab solidarity to face the challenges in the Middle East.
They expressed commitment to working and coordinating with Arab leaders to
establish a unified Arab position on regional issues in isolation from external
interference, and on bases that safeguard higher Arab interests and the
interests of both countries in confronting political and security challenges as
well as radicalism and terrorism.
The two leaders expressed keenness to intensify cooperation and coordination
with Arab leaders to ensure the success of an Arab League summit that will be
held in Damascus in 2008.
The two leaders said facing regional and international challenges that encounter
the Arab nation require unifying positions of the Arab countries and overcoming
differences.
On the Palestinian issue, the two leaders stressed the importance of reaching a
just and comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of the
Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions that provide for the return
of all occupied Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese lands.
The peace initiative, which offers Israel full normal ties with the Arab world
in return for its withdrawal from the Arab lands it occupied in 1967, was
endorsed by Arab leaders in their 2002 Beirut summit and renewed in Riyadh
pan-Arab meeting earlier this year.
They also emphasised their full support for the Palestinian National Authority
in its efforts to establish the Palestinian state and build its institutions,
calling upon the Palestinian people to overcome their differences and unify
their positions in order to protect the future of the Palestinian cause and the
interests of the Palestinian people.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in Lebanon, underlining their full
respect to the sovereignty of Lebanon and denouncing the assassinations
targeting Lebanese people. Both leaders also rejected all foreign interference
in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
They underscored the need for Lebanon to reach consensus on the presidential
election.
The King and Assad also stressed the importance of Arab support for Iraq’s
unity, sovereignty and stability. Both leaders emphasised that solutions
concerning the situation in Iraq should primarily come from within the war-torn
country.
They said they support comprehensive national reconciliation in Iraq and the
ongoing political process there.
Prisoners freed
Later Sunday, Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh told a press conference in
Amman that President Assad, responding to a request by the King during the
Damascus summit meeting, instructed authorities to “immediately free a number of
Jordanian prisoners”.
A joint committee will be formed to discuss the issue of prisoners held in both
countries, Judeh said.
Judeh stressed that “the Monarch was neither carrying a message from any party
nor was he representing anyone”.
The visit was “a personal initiative on the part of the King and it was
coordinated between the two leaders”, he stressed, adding that the goal was to
promote solidarity among Arab states.
The two sides consistently maintain contact, at many levels, and this visit was
intended to push forward technical committees talks in order to reach agreements
in several areas, he said.
In addition, “Jordan believes in Syria’s capacity to play a positive role in the
region”.
Asked if Syria’s participation in the US-hosted Annapolis peace meeting was
discussed during the King-Assad summit, Judeh said this is a “Syrian affair”.