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.
| "Those people are stone-cold nutz. Don't make me go there!" |
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.