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PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II (file)
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| By israelinsider staff May 13, 2007 |
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On the eve of his planned, but since postponed, trip to Ramallah, Jordan's King Abdullah II denied recent reports that he is exploring a new confederation linking Jordan and the Palestinian Authority as a run up to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
"Rumors about a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation are completely untrue. We must not relate to these rumors at all. The Palestinians are working toward establishing an independent Palestinian state," said chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat.
The Jordanian Prime Minister, Marouf Bakhit, also denied the rumor that the kingdom intended to go against its 1988 decision to withdraw from the West Bank. At the time, Jordan claimed to be disengaging to make way for a Palestinian state, hoping to end calls to make Jordan, over 70% Palestinian, the new Palestinian homeland.
Abdullah was scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Sunday but was apparently forced to reschedule due low clouds in Ramallah, impeding the king's planned helicopter trip.
According to Abbas's aid, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, the king will reschedule the meeting soon. It will be Abdullah's first trip to the PA territories since 2000.
Abdullah has maintained efforts to push forward in the peace process, in which Israel would withdraw to the 1967 borders and would in return be recognized. The kind was to speak with Abbas on the issue during their meeting.
"The Jordanian king has long been involved in efforts to revive the peace process and oblige Israel to [accept] the pre-1967 borders so that the Palestinians would be able to establish their won state with Jerusalem as its capital," he said. "The two leaders will discuss all possible ways to resume peace talks [with Israel] on the basis of United Nations resolutions, the road map and the Arab Peace Initiative."
The driving force for the talks from the Jordanian perspective is deep concern about instability in the Hashemite Kingdom as the Palestinian Authority descends into chaos and refugees are expected to flood into Jordan following the start of the anticipated US troop withdrawal from Iraq in the late summer.
The now rejected rumors reported that Jordan believes a confederate relationship with the PA will solve this problem, luring Israel into a less adversarial position with respect to the Hamas-led Palestinian government, and may even lead to its recognition and lifting of economic sanctions against it. |
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