AMMAN, 23 July 2007 — Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib conferred in Amman yesterday with the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), Dalia Itzik, on latest moves to spur the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to an official statement.
“Khatib stressed the need for going ahead with political negotiations that lead, within a given timetable to a just and durable solution for the Palestinian question in the run-up for the setting up of an independent Palestinian state,” the statement said.
The Jordanian foreign minister also underscored the importance of “extending support” to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his endeavors “to alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinian people by lifting the restrictions” imposed on the Palestinian territories, it added.
Itzik met Abbas yesterday for more than an hour and was seen off by Abbas, who shook hands and kissed her when bidding farewell, an AFP correspondent said.
No statements were made after the talks, but Israeli Embassy spokesman Itai Bardov said earlier there had been a “very warm atmosphere.” Abbas and Itzik arrived separately and the Palestinian president was accompanied by Saeb Erakat.
Khatib and his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, are scheduled to visit Israel on Wednesday as emissaries of the Arab League to relay to Israel the Arab peace plan which was re-adopted by Arab leaders in their summit in Riyadh at the end of March. “Our visit to Israel comes within the framework of reinvigorating the Arab peace initiative on the basis of the relevant UN resolutions and in such a manner that ensures peace and security to all peoples of the region,” Khatib was quoted as telling Itzik. The blueprint envisages extending recognition to Israel by all Arab states after it pulls out from all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 war.
— With input from agencies
