US President George W. Bush Tuesday renewed his call for Israelis and Palestinians to "lay down their arms" to make progress towards peace possible, as Jordan's visiting King Abdullah declared him committed to ending Middle East violence.
"In order for there to be discussions that will lead to peace, first and foremost, the violence must stop," said Bush, who has endured criticism over a largely hands-off approach that many Arabs view as tilted toward Israel.
"We're working hard to convince the parties to stop the violence," insisted the president, who met last week with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on March 20.
In a joint Oval Office appearance, the monarch tacitly acknowledged he had not convinced Bush to reprise the activist role Washington played before the Republican took office January 20.
"I think the situation at present is try to find a way of de-escalating the violence," Abdullah said after what he termed a "very warm and constructive discussion" of bilateral ties, including a free trade deal stalled in the US Congress, and regional issues.
Bush told the King that his administration would work to clear all obstacles facing enactment of the FTA, said the Jordan Times newspaper.
Some Republican congressmen had taken issue with FTA on how it might affect national business concerns, raising concerns about the potential for trade sanctions to be imposed under the pact's labor and environmental provisions and have asked for changes to eliminate that threat. But Jordanian officials said there has been mostly bipartisan support in Congress for the agreement.
Bush said that “we are looking forward to getting an agreement one way or the other.”
King Abdullah and Bush also discussed the situation in Iraq, said the paper.
The King reiterated his call for lifting the decade-old UN sanctions on Baghdad and ending the suffering of the Iraqi people.
King Abdullah, who in late March hosted and presided over the Arab summit conference in Amman, also briefed the American president on the Arab position on the problems in the region and what they see as the just solutions to them in order to achieve stability that would pave the way for a new economic force that would benefit the entire region.
"We're both committed to finding peace and stability in our part of the world," said the king, who said US-facilitated bilateral security talks could play a key role in ending some seven months of violence that have left hundreds dead.
"There have been meetings between the Israelis and the Palestinians as early as last week, which produced some results, and I think we need to be able to build on that," the monarch said.
Such talks "are a way of having the security experts and leaders on both sides try to find ways to take practical steps to walk this level of violence back," agreed a senior US official, who asked not to be named.
The official said Washington hoped the talks might resume this week.
But the negotiations have been snarled over an incident last week in which Israeli troops fired on a convoy carrying Palestinian officials returning from a first round of talks. The Palestinians have demanded an apology – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
