AMMAN, 11 September 2006 — Jordan and Egypt yesterday expressed their backing to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his endeavors to forge a national unity government that would present the Palestinian Authority to the world as an “effective peace partner”.
The remark came in a joint statement after talks between Jordan’s King Abdallah and Egypt President Hosni Mubarak, who paid a surprise whirlwind visit to Jordan.
“The two leaders renewed their support to the Palestinian president and his ongoing efforts aimed at forming a national unity government capable of shouldering the burdens of the forthcoming stage in such a manner that would present the Palestinian people as a strong and effective peace partner,” the statement said.
Abbas and the Hamas-led government, involved in a power struggle over the past eight months, last week started fresh talks to form a coalition government which they hoped would help break the financial and military blockade inflicted on the Palestinian areas by Israel with backing from Western powers.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, currently on a Middle East tour, signaled to Abbas yesterday that his country and its Western allies were ready to deal with a national unity government in Palestine. Abdallah and Mubarak reiterated their countries’ rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s unilateral scheme to withdraw Israeli troops from the West Bank even without reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
“The unilateral solutions, which have proved to be a failure in dealing with regional issues, cannot be a substitute for comprehensive settlements,” the two leaders said.
They urged the world community to help the Palestinians and Israelis “to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible” on the basis of the relevant UN resolutions.
“The two leaders also underscored the importance of working out a unified Arab stand that lends support to the Palestinian people and ensures a just solution to the Palestinian question that represents the core of the conflict in the region,” the communiqué said.
King Abdallah and President Mubarak called for “safeguarding the sovereignty of Lebanon and underlined the significance of noninterference in its internal affairs and extending support to the Lebanese government in its reconstruction efforts.”
On Iraq, the two leaders supported efforts aimed at “restoring stability and security to the war-torn country and the achievement of national concord through joining the peace process by all components of the Iraqi people.”
