Jordan Times
Friday, January 4, 2008
Settlements stark violation to
Annapolis agreements - King
JT and Agencies
AQABA/WASHINGTON - His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday reiterated Jordan’s
opposition to Israeli settlement activity on Palestinian lands, stressing that
such activity is a “stark violation” of agreements reached at the US-hosted
Annapolis peace meeting.
According to a Royal Court statement, the King told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert during their talks in Aqaba that settlements, Jerusalem and refugees are
key issues that should be addressed with clarity and in accordance with
international resolutions and agreements.
The King urged Israel to adopt serious and practical policies that reflect its
stated desire for peace and that would guarantee a sustainable and successful
peace process. King Abdullah warned that a stalled peace process threatens the
region’s future and its security and stability.
Achieving peace requires all concerned parties to honour their commitments
within a clear mechanism and specific timeline in order to reach a comprehensive
settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict, King Abdullah said.
He called for seizing the opportunity to achieve peace that was provided by the
Annapolis peace meeting last November. Negotiations, he added, should proceed
according to agreements reached and commitments made by the Palestinians and
Israel at the meeting, and both sides should receive international support.
The King’s meeting with Olmert, according to the statement, was part of contacts
to support Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. It came a day after his talks with
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The King told Abbas he would intensify
contacts with concerned parties to drum up support for the Palestinians, who are
in negotiations with the Israelis over a peace agreement hoped to be reached
before the end of 2008.
King Abdullah said Jordan seeks to ensure the success of the negotiations. He
emphasised that peace negotiations should lead to a viable, independent
Palestinian state on Palestinian land by the end of the year, as agreed by the
parties at Annapolis.
He expressed hope that the upcoming visit to the region by the US president
would encourage the Palestinians and Israel to reach agreement and implement the
commitments they made at the peace meeting.
Olmert expressed willingness to move forward in negotiations with the
Palestinians with the aim of reaching a final settlement to the conflict. He
expressed appreciation for King Abdullah’s efforts to help both sides achieve
that objective, according to the statement.
Bush says settlements ‘impediment’
In Washington, US President George W. Bush on Thursday called Israeli settlement
expansion an “impediment” in revived peace efforts and urged the Jewish state to
meet its pledge to dismantle unauthorised settler outposts.
In an interview with Reuters less than a week before his first presidential
visit to Israel and the West Bank, Bush voiced optimism for securing an
Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of 2008, a goal set at last November’s
Annapolis conference that has been viewed with some scepticism.
Bush said he would use his trip to keep pressure on both sides, including making
clear to Israelis his concern about Jewish settlement activity. Peace talks
ahead of Bush’s visit have been soured by disputes over continuing settlement
construction on occupied land.
“I will talk about Israeli settlement expansion, about how that is, that can be,
you know, an impediment to success,” he said. “The unauthorised outposts for
example need to be dismantled, like the Israelis said they would do.” Bush also
acknowledged that part of the reason for his January 8-16 Middle East trip is
“absolutely” about efforts to contain Iran’s influence in the region.
Bush said that on his trip, which starts in Israel and will include stops in
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, he expects
questions about a US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) last month that said
Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.
“I will clarify to them that the NIE means that Iran is still a danger,” he
said.
Bush’s trip follows a US-hosted conference last month in Annapolis, Maryland,
where Olmert and Abbas pledged to try to forge a peace deal by the end of 2008.
Asked whether he would hold three-way talks with Abbas and Olmert during his
visit, Bush said, “I don’t know. It’s not on the calendar now. But there will
definitely be substantial talks with the Israelis and the Palestinians.” Bush’s
Middle East trip comes as his room for manoeuvre is limited by the unpopular
Iraq war, now in its fifth year.
Bush’s hands-off approach to Middle East peacemaking during almost seven years
in office has raised doubts about his newfound commitment. His planned trip to
the region appears intended to allay such concerns.
Abbas to Saudi Arabia ahead of Bush trip
Abbas will visit Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks on the situation in the
Palestinian territories ahead of Bush’s trip to the region, the Palestinian
ambassador in Riyadh said on Thursday.
Abbas will also brief King Abdullah and other Saudi officials on the status of
talks with Israel, “which have not yielded results because of Israel’s ongoing
settlement policy and procrastination,” Jamal Shobaki told AFP.
He said the discussions will cover Bush’s trip to the Middle East next week.
Shobaki said Abbas’s talks in Riyadh are bound to touch on the crisis between
Fateh Party and Hamas, which has been festering since the Islamist movement
routed Fateh forces in the Gaza Strip last June, resulting in the dismissal of
the Hamas-led unity government and a new Western-backed government being formed
in the West Bank.