King Abdullah of Jordan has warned the US against retreating from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He suggests that a more backstage role - as apparently favored by the administration of George W. Bush - could worsen the situation, reported Financial Times on Tuesday.
The king also told the FT that Iraq had missed an opportunity to win an Arab call for a lifting of United Nations sanctions against it when it refused to agree to a proposed resolution put forward at last week's Arab summit.
"I think it is imperative [in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict] for a bigger umbrella - the United States - to play a bigger role to get the parties together," King Abdullah said ahead of a meeting next week with President Bush. "A vacuum would create more problems in the long run than it would solve. Are we going to wait another two or three months of violence and tragedy until somebody decides this has gone too far and we have to sit down and talk?”
The aim of the Washington trip is "to restore calm" in the region and return Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table, the king told AFP before he flew to the United States Monday.
"We will address steps that can be taken to restore calm to the region and redirect all efforts towards reactivating the peace process," Abdullah said before his departure from Amman.
"We are certain of the continued US commitment to achieve Middle East peace and we will be working with the United States and regional parties to get the peace process back on track," he said.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo reported last week that Jordan and Egypt had some "ideas" aimed at restoring calm in the Palestinian territories -- scene of six months of bloody uprising against Israeli rule.
Israeli radio reported Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected the proposals to halt the deadly tide of Israeli-Palestinian violence and resume peace talks.
A Jordanian official told AFP there was no such "initiative" but only Jordanian-Egyptian "ideas" to help restore calm.
"The ideas are centered on three points: ending Israeli-Palestinian confrontation and lifting the Israeli closure of Palestinian territories, reactivating Sharm el-Sheikh II accords allowing confidence-building measures between the two sides and the third phase of Israeli withdrawal (from Palestinian territories), while the third point is the resumption of the peace talks," the official said.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders meeting at a summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Shekih in October pledged to take steps to halt the violence but without result.
Abdullah arrived in London Monday on his way to Washington, where he is due to arrive Tuesday, before meeting Bush on April 10 – Albawaba.com
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