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Abdullah II meets Abbas after ‘secret’ Israeli talks
Amman—Jordan’s King Abdullah II held talks on Thursday with
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas two days after Israeli leaders made
a clandestine visit to the kingdom, a senior Jordanian official said.
The meeting took place at the kingdom’s southern Red Sea resort of
Aqaba, the official said as the palace declined to comment on this
week’s Jordanian-Israeli talks.
According to Israeli public radio, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Defence Minister Ehud Barak made a secret visit to Jordan on Tuesday
and met with the king.
During the meeting the Jordanian monarch urged the Israeli leaders to
refrain from launching a large-scale military operations in the Gaza
Strip, the radio reported on Thursday citing a senior Israeli
official.
The radio said the king took the initiative to seek to avoid a
confrontation that might also cause trouble in his country, home to
many Palestinians.
Olmert’s press secretary declined to comment on the report when
contacted by AFP in Jerusalem. The palace also declined to confirm or
deny the report.
But a senior government official told AFP in Amman that the king had
told Olmert and Barak about “the need to stop all unilateral measures
in the West Bank and in Gaza.”
The king also told the Israeli leaders “not to launch military
operations because such measures will prevent the achievement of
peace,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.
Israel “cannot enjoy peace... unless the Palestinians obtain security
and their own state,” the king reportedly told the Israeli leaders.
“King Abdullah II asked Olmert to deal seriously with the Palestinians
in the negotiations in order to achieve a two-state solution,” he
added.
The monarch expected the king and Abbas to discuss “means of pushing
ahead with peace negotiations with Israel on the basis of a two-state
solution.”
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian
movement Hamas took power there violently in June 2007. Control was
tightened on November 5 with all crossings closed following a
resurgence of violence and Palestinian rocket attacks on southern
Israel. At least 1,000 people demonstrated in Amman on Wednesday
against the Israeli blockade on Gaza.—Agencies
