LOC23:38
20:38 GMT
AMMAN, Aug 31 (KUNA) -- Any chatter about a Jordanian-Palestinian
federation or confederation before the birth of a bona-fide Palestinian state
is pure bunk, said King Abdullah II in an interview with state-run TV.
He asked "a confederation with whom exactly, with the PLO, or with some
other Palestinian entity? And what would it be based on? And why is it that
every time Israel feels the heat from the international community pressing it
to become serious about the establishment of a Palestinian state? this
question on the federation or confederation crops up."
He noted that Jordan had addressed this topic before and decried its
reemergence at the prodding of those with, in his opinion, ill intentions.
On the Mideast peace process, he urged the Palestinians to take full
advantage of the upcoming international peace conference, saying however that
"it is unacceptable for Gaza to remain cut off from the West Bank. "No one
accepted that situation," he said.
"When we talk about a Palestinian state we mean a state stretching over
Gaza and the West Bank. ... We therefore invite the Palestinians to abide by
reason and logic and get their act together without undue intra-strife so that
to build on a fruitful peace process," the King told the TV station.
He affirmed that US president George Bush's invitation for an international
Mideast peace conference next Fall was in part due to the efforts of Jordan
"along with Arab and friendly states" which boosted these efforts right after
the end of the Arab summit meeting in Riyadh.
The King gave his full support to the conference, saying that it was a
propitious step toward a firm and longlasting Mideast peace.
To the notion that extreme elements on both Arab and Israeli sides sought
to scuttle peace efforts in the region, King Abdullah said "we are aware of
that and bemoan attempts at keeping the region off-balanced and unstable."
He explained that there have always been forces in the Middle East that did
not want to respond in any positive measure to peace overtures with Israel no
matter what the circumstance were. So much so that these forces rejected the
1947 UN partition which guaranteed the birth of a new Palestinian state.
Time has come, he mused, that all efforts for a peace accord be translated
into facts on the ground, and it is high time for Israel to recognize the
legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. He said if Israel really sought
recognition of Arab and Islamic states, it behooved it to work assiduously
toward the actual establishment of a free-standing Palestinian state.
As for local parliamentary elections in Jordan, due in November, he said
people deserved fair and comprehensive elections in which all strata of the
society would take part.
He said his country was working hard on improving the economy but that such
improvement required patience on the part of the public. He emphasized that
the government was doing its best to come up with a viable social security net
for those citizens facing socio-economic constraints.
Despite the rising cost of oil for Jordan, it has been able to keep the
economy on keel, achieving a modicum of growth rate and of creating new jobs,
he said. (end)
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