WASHINGTON, April 4 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump will meet at the White House on Wednesday King Abdullah II of Jordan, which will be the second meeting between the two leaders since Trump took office in January and also comes a few days after Trump's meeting with Egyptian President.
Trump and King Abdullah will gather for a meeting in the Oval Office and then proceed to a working lunch, where the two leaders are expected to discuss a range of "shared priorities," including efforts to defeat the so-called Islamic State (IS), how to end the conflict in Syria and advancing progress between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
According to a senior White House official, Trump and King Abdullah, who met briefly on the sidelines of the National Prayer Breakfast in February, agreed at that time on this follow-on meeting.
The senior official affirmed that it was "important to the president that he welcomes King Abdullah to the White House early in his administration as a sign of the strong friendship and partnership." "Of utmost importance, this is an opportunity for the president to convey his continued support for our steadfast partnership with Jordan on a range of key regional issues," the official added.
The official reiterated what Trump said "we'll work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish ISIS." He affirmed that Jordan is "a critical partner in that effort and it plays an outsized role in this effort as well as in the region." Jordan has carried out air strikes against IS targets as part of a US-led military coalition, which controls parts of neighboring Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, the senior White House affirmed that the US and the international community "are fully engaged in providing support to Jordan, for those refugees that are within Jordan as well as providing assistance to refugees that are on the Syrian side of the border." Out of about 4.9 million Syrians registered with the UNHCR in the region by mid-March, around 657,000 are Syrian refugees hosted in Jordan, according to a recent report. It was reported that around 1.3 million Syrian refugees are in Jordan, representing almost 20 per cent of the country's population.
The official described this as a "difficult situation and we're working with Jordan to make sure that their interests are taken into account, as well as making sure in collaboration with the international community that the needs of those refugees on the other side of the border are fully addressed." When asked if the two leaders would discuss Syrian safe zones around the border region, the senior White House official stressed "the issue of what we would call interim de-escalation areas rather than safe zones is one that is a consistent part of our dialogue with Jordan, as well as others that are involved in the Geneva talks that are focused on resolving the Syrian conflict or in a bilateral in trying to develop options to secure, provide security, safety and humanitarian access for displaced people." Last month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the coalition will seek to establish "interim zones of stability" in Iraq and Syria and allow refugees to return home safely, where Trump also stated in January "I'll absolutely do safe zones in Syria for the people." During their brief February meeting, Trump thanked the Jordanian King for his "leadership in promoting peace and stability in the region" and recognized "Jordan's critical contributions to defeat ISIS and discussed the possibility of establishing safe zones in Syria." According to reports, King Abdullah also warned that Middle East peacemaking efforts would be undermined should the US decide to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - a pledge that Trump had made during his election campaign. (end) si.gta