Jordan sees stopping unilateral Israeli steps key to resuming talks

Oct 28, 2010, 16:41 GMT

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday told two senior Egyptian officials that the cessation of all 'provocative' Israeli steps in East Jerusalem and the West Bank was a pre-requisite for resuming direct talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and director of the Egyptian Intelligence Omar Suleiman visited Amman to discuss working out a joint stand between the two Arab countries which so far concluded official peace treaties with Israel, officials said.

'The monarch emphasised that finding a suitable environment for resuming the direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis requires stopping all unilateral and provocative measures, particularly the building of settlements,' a royal court statement said.

King Abdullah underlined the importance of intensifying international and regional efforts to achieve 'tangible progress towards resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict'.

'The failure to do so will expose the region for more tension, violence and conflicts,' the monarch was quoted as saying.

The mission of the two Egyptian officials also involves a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who decided at the end of September to stop direct talks with Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to extend a moratorium on settlement building that expired on September 26.

Abul Gheit and Suleiman reportedly planned to discuss with Abdullah and Abbas a plan by the Palestinian Authority to seek a UN Security Council resolution for the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, a step strongly opposed by Israel.

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