AMMAN, 8 November 2004 — Jordan’s King Abdallah yesterday told a US congressional delegation that serious international action was needed to prevent collapse of the Middle East peace process. “There must be serious international action to save the peace process,” he said during the meeting, according to the state-run Petra news agency.
The king also briefed the delegation, led by the chairman of the Ways and Means Commission William Thomas, “on the efforts Jordan is making to revive the peace process and put it back on track”, the agency said. There was no mention of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat who is fighting for his life in a French hospital and whose death would have repercussions on the future of Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
The congressional delegation is on a tour of several Arab countries, including Egypt, Oman and Tunisia to discuss trade, investment and security issues.
“It is high time for an international move to salvage the peace process,” the monarch was quoted as telling Thomas and the accompanying delegation. The king alluded to an ensuing opportunity for a fresh US effort to reinvigorate the deadlocked Arab-Israeli peace negotiations following President George W. Bush’s victory in this week’s presidential election.
Abdallah also told the US lawmakers that Jordan “supported ongoing efforts to restore stability and security to Iraq as well as rebuilding the country,” it added. According to the US Embassy, the team is on a “fact-finding mission” through several countries in North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf.
The delegation planned to explore the possibility of encouraging economic development in the region through concluding trade agreements with Middle East countries in implementation of a recommendation to this effect by the US National Commission on attacks launched on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, officials said.
