AMMAN, 17 September 2006 — King Abdallah of Jordan yesterday painted a grim picture for the Middle East if the status quo persists in the region, and cautioned Israel “will have no future” without a just and comprehensive settlement that guarantees rights of the Palestinians.
“Regrettably the space of optimism has shrunk, and I hereby warn that the region is heading to a dark future, barring any moves by all parties in the coming weeks to arrive at solution which is convincing for the peoples,” the monarch said in an interview with a London-based Arabic daily.
“Israel, the United States and the entire world have now realized after the Lebanon war that Israel has no future except with the accomplishment of just peace that ensures the return of rights to their owners. Israel and the entire region cannot enjoy security if the Palestinians are deprived of it,” he added. Abdallah referred to the reported military setbacks that Israel suffered at the hands of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militias during the 33-day war that started on July 12.
He contended that the Lebanon war “proved failure of all unilateral solutions” which Israel adopted so far. “The solution now lies in the return to the negotiating table...It is high time to go back to the root of the conflict-the Palestinian question,” the monarch said. Abdallah, who left for the United States yesterday, said that he was carrying “ideas” he worked out with Saudi and Egyptian leaders for the conclusion of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli settlement.
The Jordanian head of state also warned against a “rapid slide into a civil war in Iraq, the offshoots of which could expand to affect neighboring countries.” “What is taking place in Iraq stirs our concerns as the violence there takes a sectarian dimension. But at the same time I count on the awareness of the Iraqi people and their realization of the dangers that threaten their country,” he said.
The king commended reconciliation plans adopted by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and urged Arab countries to support him. He expressed the hope that the Iranian nuclear crisis would be resolved “without a military confrontation.” “Our region cannot tolerate a new crisis the price of which would be paid by all of us. Therefore, the world community is urged to resolve this issue through dialogue and diplomatic channels,” he said.
Abdallah said that Amman had agreed with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Palestinians on a number of “ideas” to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
“There are ideas which have been approved in coordination with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, a number of other Arab countries and Palestinian President Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) to relaunch the peace process on the basis of international legitimacy, the Arab peace initiative and the roadmap,” he told the newspaper.
“The peoples of the region will experience years of violence” unless the moribund peace process is quickly revived, the Jordanian monarch said.
The Saudi-authored Arab peace plan, adopted by an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002, envisages Arab recognition of and normal ties with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from Arab lands seized in the 1967 war.
The international “road map” to peace was drafted by the so-called Middle East quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. It was announced in 2003, with the aim of establishing by 2005 a viable Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.
The Jordanian king also said that anyone seeking “to sow discord between Sunnis and Shiites” was a “traitor to his religion and his nation.” He also called for a diplomatic settlement of the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program, warning that the military option would be “catastrophic for the region.” Abdallah told the daily that Jordan’s relations with Syria were “less than good,” even though he had “attempted to open a new page since Bashar Al-Assad became president.”
