Mubarak, Abdullah II: Efforts to avert regional war must continue
Egypt-Jordan, Politics, 2/10/2003

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan yesterday stressed that efforts towards a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis must continue in order to avert a regional war.

The two leaders also emphasised that UN weapons inspectors must be given more time to complete their mission.

Following the summit talks, Egyptian Minister of Information Safwat el-Sherif said that President Mubarak and King Abdullah stressed the need for supporting a peaceful solution, adding that Iraq must cooperate fully with UN arms inspectors and abide by international resolutions.

"The Egyptian-Jordanian summit in Aqaba (350 kilometres south of Amman) focused on the Iraqi stand-off in view of recent developments on the international arena and UN weapons inspectors' reports to the UN Security Council," el-Sherif said. "The two Arab leaders also reviewed Arab efforts that have been stepped up in handling the crisis in order to shape an Arab vision and coordinate Arab moves on the international arena," he said, adding that the talks also dealt with the outcome of President Mubarak's recent meetings with world and Arab leaders. On prospects of breaking stalemate in the Middle East peace process, el-Sherif said that the two leaders discussed developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict since the last Israeli election and the Palestinian inter-factional dialogue in Cairo.

"President Mubarak and King Abdullah stressed the need for putting the peace process back on track and re-presenting the Palestinian case on the basis of the roadmap," he said.

President Mubarak called for the adaptation and activation of the roadmap plan, highlighting what had been agreed in the Quartet committee and making the settlement of the conflict a top priority, el-Sherif said. "The President and the Jordanian monarch agreed on maintaining contacts with other Arab leaders," el-Sherif said.

A statement released by Jordan's Royal Diwan noted that the summit stressed that Egypt and Jordan are sharing identical views regarding current regional developments, especially the Iraq stand-off.

Palace officials said King Abdullah and Egyptian leader agreed the chances of a war on Iraq were extremely high but hoped the crisis could still be resolved without military action.

"Both leaders had identical views on the Iraq crisis and the two stressed their support for international efforts to reach a peaceful settlement that rids the region of the shadow of war," one palace official said.

"The two leaders agreed more time has to be given to UN inspectors to finish their mission in Iraq especially in light of the Iraqi readiness to allow inspectors full access and their commitment to UN resolutions," a palace official told reporters.

The two leaders continued their discussions during a business luncheon, in which they discussed bilateral relations with special reference to gas, tourism and joint investments.

President Mubarak, accompanied by a high-level delegation including Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif, Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher and Presidential Chamberlain Zakaria Azmi, left for Jordan early yesterday and arrived home later in the day.

The talks come as Arab diplomacy picked up steam in the face of mounting US threats to oust President Saddam Hussein by force.

They also come ahead of the emergency Arab foreign ministers' meeting due to take place in Cairo on February 16.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak- King Abdullah discuss the Palestinian tragedy   (4/22/2002)
  Jordanian, Egyptian FMs meet on conditions in the Palestinian territories   (4/13/2002)
  Mubarak, king Abdullah exchange messages   (4/11/2002)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search