AMMAN, 11 April 2007 — Jordan’s King Abdallah urged Israel to end its occupation of Arab land to guarantee peaceful coexistence with the world’s Muslims and warned against a hasty US troop pullout from Iraq.
In an interview with Agence France Presse yesterday, the king said: “Israel, the European states and the United States should realize that the Palestinian issue does not only concern the Palestinians but also has the sympathy of all Muslims from Indonesia to the Maghreb states. If Israel wants to coexist with more than a billion Muslims, it should end its occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands.”
Abdallah also urged the Israeli people to accept a peace plan adopted at the Arab summit in Riyadh last month, saying it “reflects collective Arab will to build peace that puts an end to years of violence and suffering.”
“They also should acknowledge that this is a unique opportunity in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that it is time they work to convince their leaders of the need to resume peace negotiations,” he said.
The five-year-old Saudi-drafted plan offers Israel normal relations if it withdraws from all land seized in the 1967 Six Day War, and allows for the creation of a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees.
Israel rejected the plan when it was first adopted in 2002, but has now said it could serve as a basis for talks provided there were changes on the refugee issue, something the Arab leaders have rejected.
Twelve Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on April 18 to discuss proposals aimed at activating the Arab peace plan, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said. He was speaking to reporters after a meeting with top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
The Arab commission consists of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.
Meanwhile, Congress yesterday gave the Bush administration the green light to spend about $60 million on upgrading Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Presidential Guard, a senior State Department official said.
He said the money, which had previously been held up by Congress, would be used for Abbas’ presidential guard, security at border crossings, logistics and communications equipment, as well as other expenses.
