Jordan Times
Thursday, September 2, 2010
King meets Obama on eve of direct Mideast peace talks
His Majesty King Abdullah meets with US President
Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday (AFP photo by Chris Kleponis)
AMMAN (JT) - His Majesty King Abdullah met in Washington on Wednesday with US
President Barack Obama ahead of a wide-ranging meeting scheduled later in the
day that was to bring together top leaders involved in the Mideast peace
process.
The meeting with Obama was part of a series of separate meetings held on the eve
of the launch of direct talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.
His Majesty discussed peace efforts with Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak,
Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, and Quartet representative Tony Blair.
Obama also met yesterday with Mubarak, Netanyahu and Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas, warning in a statement after the meetings that the Palestinians
and Israelis must not let a fleeting opportunity for peace slip away, Agence
France-Presse reported.
During King Abdullah’s one-on-one meeting with the US president, the two leaders
discussed steps that should be taken to create a proper environment for
successful talks.
Such an environment should guarantee swift and effective progress in the
one-year talks, leading to a peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel and
the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that lives in peace and
security with Israel “as soon as possible”, a Royal Court statement said.
King Abdullah voiced appreciation of the commitment Obama and his administration
have shown for efforts aimed at a permanent and comprehensive solution to the
Middle East conflict within a regional context, stressing the need for
collective efforts to make peace, which he described as the only way to
guarantee the security of the countries in the region and a “regional and
international strategic interest”, according to the statement.
For his part, Obama praised the role Jordan is playing in the peacemaking
efforts.
The two leaders were later joined by officials from both sides, including US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, chief of the US National Security Council
James Jones, Obama’s special peace envoy to Middle East, George Mitchell and his
deputy, David Hale.
Present at the meeting from the Jordanian side were Royal Court Chief Nasser
Lozi, King’s Adviser Ayman Safadi and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
In the King’s separate meeting with Netanyahu, talks focused on the direct
talks, scheduled to start today.
According to the Royal Court, His Majesty stressed that the negotiations should
tackle all final status issues and make substantial progress towards the
emergence of the Palestinian state in line with internationally agreed on terms
of reference.
Also on Wednesday, the King discussed with the Egyptian president the efforts
being exerted to push forward the direct negotiations.
During their talks, the two leaders exchanged views on the approach needed to
guarantee the negotiations deal seriously with final status issues.
King Abdullah and Mubarak stressed that the international community must join
efforts to support the peace process to achieve Palestinian-Israeli peace within
a comprehensive regional context.
The two leaders stressed the need to exert all possible efforts to support the
Palestinians to establish an independent state on their national soil, to live
in peace and security next to Israel, in accordance with international
resolutions.
The same issues were on the agenda of King Abdullah’s meeting with Blair, with
whom His Majesty also discussed the role Europe and the international community
can play in supporting the peace process.
As part of Jordan’s diplomatic activities in Washington, Foreign Minister Nasser
Judeh met with his Georgian counterpart Alexander Nalbandov, and separately with
a Finnish parliamentary delegation.
In both meetings, Judeh briefed Nalbandov and the Finnish lawmakers on Jordan’s
stance on the peace process which calls for intensive international efforts to
solve the Mideast conflict on the basis of the two-state formula,
internationally adopted terms of reference and the Arab Peace Initiative.
After Judeh’s meeting with the top Georgian diplomat, officials from both
countries signed a cooperation protocol between the two foreign ministries.