Abbas, Abdullah agree to coordinate unified response to Kerry
Jordan’s FM: Establishment of independent Palestinian state is national interest of the kingdom.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHPA President Mahmoud Abbas meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, January 8, 2015.(photo credit: REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah on Wednesday discussed US Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest proposals for achieving peace between the Palestinians and Israel.Abbas said after meeting with the Jordanian monarch in Amman that the two sides agreed on a united response to Kerry’s ideas.“Kerry is still presenting ideas and we are discussing them,” Abbas said. “He [Kerry] will come soon and we have ongoing meetings with his aides.”Abbas said he was keen on coordinating positions with Jordan and briefing Abdullah on the latest developments surrounding the peace talks with Israel.Abdullah, for his part, reiterated his country’s support for the rights of the Palestinians, including the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines with east Jerusalem as its capital, the PA’s official news agency Wafa reported.Kerry met with Jordanian King Abudllah II and with Foreign Minister Nasser Judehas, well as with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Sunday to drum up support for his peace efforts.Kerry said that one of the reasons for his trip to Saudi Arabia was that the Saudi-led Arab League initiative from 2002 held out the possibility that "if the parties could arrive at a peaceful resolution, you could instantaneously have peace between the 22 Arab nations and 35 Muslim nations, all of whom have said they will recognize Israel if peace is achieved."Kerry, who has repeatedly urged for more focus to be placed on the benefits of peace, and not only on the risks, advised imagining how recognition by the Arab League countries "changes the dynamics of travel, of business, of education, of opportunity in this region, of stability. Imagine what peace could mean for trade and tourism, what it could mean for developing technology and talent, for job opportunities for the younger generation, for generations in all of these countries."Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with east Jerusalem as its capital, is a national interest of the kingdom.Judeh said, during a meeting with EU envoy Tony Blair, that Jordan is interested in a solution to all the final-status issues, because they are linked to Jordan’s “vital interests.”
Judeh and Blair discussed Kerry’s continued efforts to boost the peace process, the Jordanian Petra news agency said.Herb Keinon contributed to this report.
