Jordanian efforts for the five-member Arab summit
Regional, Politics, 5/28/1999

Syrian President Hafez al-Assad on Thursday received the chairman of the Jordanian royal court, Abdul Karim al-Kabareiti ,following a telephone conversation Jordan's King Abdullah Bin Hussein held with President al-Assad.

During the telephone conversation the two leaders "discussed efforts to revive the Middle East peace process and means of revitalizing Arab coordination to serve Arab interests," according to statements made in Damascus.

However, al-Kabareiti's visit to Damascus came in the context of Jordanian mediation started by King Abdullah to Damascus last month in an attempt to achieve reconciliation between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Syria. While Syrian circles expressed their fears that Arafat's desire to maintain coordination with Syria stems only from his conviction that concentration will be made in the coming phase on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks, sources in Amman indicated Jordanian fears of "delaying" the peace process.

The Jordanian sources noted the marathon travels of King Abdullah, during which he visited the US and then Gaza where he met with the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the King's contacts in telephone talks with the Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his congratulations to Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak and lastly when he delegated al-Kabareiti to Damascus on Thursday carrying an "important" message to President al-Assad.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources in Damascus said the question of convening a five-member Arab summit in order to take a united Arab stand concerning causes of political settlement with Israel is still under consultation, adding that there are three formulas for such a summit to be discussed: comprehensive with the presence of Iraq, a summit without Iraq or a five-member summit.

The sources said that such a summit "is not mature yet and that a bilateral summit between Arafat and al-Assad is not predicted in the seen future due to the unavailability of exchanged atmospheres of confidence, yet."

Previous Stories:
  King Abdullah - Arafat hold summit   (5/27/1999)
  On the mini Arab summit   (5/26/1999)
  Attempts to convene a five-fold summit for peace process partcipants   (5/24/1999)
  Palestinian - Syrian summit to be held in Damascus in two weeks   (5/22/1999)

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