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JORDANIAN
KING EXPLORES ALL-ARAB DEAL WITH ISRAEL
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KING ABDULLAH |
LONDON,
Nov. 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Jordan's King Abdullah II has said
that the Arab world must be ready to offer a collective guarantee of Israel's
security in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state, British
newspaper The Times reported Saturday.
The
British daily said that a deal along these lines was already being discussed by
the main international players, including the United States, Russia, the
European Union, the United Nations, Egypt and Jordan, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
According
to the plan, "the Arab countries will make a statement guaranteeing the
security of Israel," the Jordanian monarch told The Times.
The
king's remarks were "exploratory" according to the daily. The Times
reported that the Jordanian monarch has already canvassed the idea in the Gulf
states, Saudi Arabia and several north African states.
This
was part of what he called the “two-basket approach” agreed by the
“team,” which is comprised of of the main parties.
“But
the biggest barrier remains Syria,” said the British newspaper, “and those
countries such as Iraq and Libya that have taken a consistently militant
approach.”
King
Abdullah was interviewed by the newspaper immediately after his address to both
Houses of Parliament. The Jordanian leader said that this long-term strategy
would underpin a new initiative to be launched soon by the Bush Administration.
The
Jordanian monarch said that Tony Blair agreed with him on all details of this.
“I was joking with the Prime Minister that our tête-à-têtes are getting
shorter and shorter because we agree on everything,” he added.
On
Iraq, King Abdullah said that there were some voices in the Washington that
wanted to broaden the declared U.S. “war on terrorism” and attack Baghdad.
“The
President and the State Department and others are very clear on the dangers of
bringing Iraq into the equation at this stage,” said the Jordanian monarch.
“There are people in the [Bush] administration and government that would like
to use this as an excuse, but the voices of moderation at this stage are the
ones that are stronger.”
The
King said that he and Queen Rania’s state visit had been extremely successful.
“We
were here to reinforce the traditional ties between the U.K. and Jordan,” he
said. “That clearly was not difficult to do, given the tremendous hospitality
of the Queen and the government.”
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