AMMAN, 5 January 2008 — Jordan’s King Abdallah and visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday discussed at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba latest efforts aimed at pushing the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to a successful conclusion, according to an official statement.
“The monarch updated the French president on Jordan’s initiatives to muster support for the Palestinians and Israelis in their endeavors to arrive at a peaceful settlement for the Palestinian question that handles the final status issues,” the statement from the Jordanian royal court said.
Abdallah also held talks at Aqaba in the past two days with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to try to remove hurdles facing the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, including the expansion of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories.
Abdallah thanked France for its support at the Paris Club buyback of Jordanian debts and the assistance offered by Paris for Jordan’s nuclear program.
On Lebanon, the Jordanian and French leaders “expressed their support for efforts aimed at bringing about a national reconciliation in the country that ensures Lebanon’s supreme interests and safeguards its unity and sovereignty.”
However, the two leaders “voiced concern over the failure of the Lebanese groups to reach compromise regarding the election of a new Lebanese president with a view to averting Lebanon any dangerous repercussions consequent on the continuation of political vacuum,” the statement said.
The monarch was also involved in telephone conversations over the issue yesterday with US President George W. Bush and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, the statement said.
The monarch and Bush discussed “efforts under way to push forward the peace process” in the region, the Jordanian royal court said.
Bush is scheduled to arrive in the region next week to try to help overcome hurdles impeding the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, including Israel’s expansion of a settlement in East Jerusalem that was deemed by Palestinians as detrimental to a peace agreement.
Bush told the king his trip “seeks to reaffirm the United States’ commitments to helping Israel and the Palestinians reach a final peaceful settlement to their conflict,” it said.
The king called Bush’s landmark visit “key to enhancing the vital role by the United States to push for an agreement on final status issues, leading to the establishment of an independent state on Palestinian land in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”
The United States will boost economic and military aid to Jordan by more than 40 percent, providing its ally with $663.5 million for 2008, the US Embassy said yesterday.
It will give the kingdom $363.5 million in economic support and $300 million in military financing, an embassy statement said.
“Jordan is among our strongest partners and closest friends. This increased level of assistance shows the bipartisan support in America for the difficult choices Jordan has made in its homegrown reform efforts,” it quoted US Ambassador David Hale as saying. Jordan is a major beneficiary of US financial assistance and was given $461 million in 2007.
