Last update - 00:00 18/12/2006
Jordan plans talks with Israel on renewing stalled peace process
By The Associated Press
Jordan's King Abdullah II said Monday he will soon make a rare public contact with Israeli leaders in a bid to revive stalled Mideast peacemaking.
Abdullah did not explain whether he planned to host Israeli leaders or visit the neighboring country, with whom Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994.
The king hosted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in June in an effort to get both leaders to open direct negotiations, but the effort failed.
Senior Jordanian government officials have insisted that relations with Israel are cordial and that the king and other officials hold frequent telephone exchanges with Israeli leaders.
"Jordan will make contacts with Israeli [leaders] in the coming period in addition to the regular contacts we hold with the Palestinians to encourage both sides to undertake steps that could bolster mutual confidence and contribute to moving their peace process forward," Abdullah said in a written statement.
He warned that that failure to reach peace with the Palestinians would threaten the region. "Everyone (in the region), including the Israeli people will pay the price, if no Palestinian state was set up to meet the aspiration of the Palestinian people to independence and freedom," Abdullah said.
He also urged Israel to "define its position regarding the formation of a Palestinian state."
The king also warned the Palestinians of "divisions" ripping through the their society between Abbas's mainstream Fatah faction and the militant ruling Hamas.
"Such divisions will lead to foreign interference, weaken the Palestinian internal front and imperil Palestinian unity," he said.
Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a power struggle since the Islamic group defeated Fatah in legislative elections in January. A wave of factional fighting has left Gaza on the brink of chaos after Abbas on Saturday called for new elections, which Hamas has
rejected.