ANALYSIS: Jordan king's visit is sign of support for Abbas

By Jeff Abramowitz Nov 21, 2011, 16:12 GMT

Ramallah, West Bank - Despite lasting just two hours, Monday's surprise visit to the West Bank by Jordanian King Abdullah was seen by analysts as a strong sign of support for the Palestinian Authority and its embattled president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Although Abbas frequently travels to Amman, Abdullah's visit to Ramallah was only his first in 11 years.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh did not go into details, telling reporters only that the visiting king wanted to hold 'important political consultation and to discuss economic and social issues' with the Palestinians

But according to Hanan Ashrawi, a prominent Palestinian legislator, it was above all about underscoring the fact that Jordan recognizes only one legitimate Palestinian leadership, that of Abbas.

Fahd Kheetan, chief editor of the independent daily Alarab Alyawm, also argued that the visit was designed to 'express backing for the Palestinian Authority' at a time when Abbas badly needs it following his stalled bid to obtain UN membership.

Abbas asked the UN on September 23 for UN membership, over Israel and US objections. So far, however, the Palestinians have failed to muster the necessary backing for the application to be approved.

Although Abbas still retains overwhelming support among Palestinians, the failure of the bid does give his political rivals at Hamas ammunition for its claim that Palestinian statehood will not be achieved via negotiations or through the UN, but only through 'resistance' to Israel.

Analysts noted that Abdullah's parley with Abbas in Ramallah came ahead of talks in Cairo between the Palestinian leader and Khaled Maashal, the exiled politburo head of the Islamist Hamas movement.

Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party have been struggling to implement a reconciliation deal, which was signed in May after four years of bitter rivalry and which left the former in charge of the Gaza Strip, and an Abbas-sanctioned government ruling the West Bank - a territory that Jordan controlled between 1949 and 1967.

At the same time, Jordan has also been making attempts to mend relations with Hamas, after a decade of no official ties. Maashal is soon due to make his first official visit to Jordan since being expelled form the Hashemite Kingdom, in 1999.

The Hamas leader was nevertheless allowed to make a private visit to Jordan in 2009 to visit his dying father.

Although Kheetan pointed out that good Jordanian ties with Hamas are necessary for the success of the Palestinian reconciliation efforts, Ashrawi believes the Abdullah's visit was primarily about backing Abbas, and to reassure him that the renewed Amman-Hamas ties did not mean a weakening of support for the Palestinian president.

'They recognize only one legitimate leadership: the President, and the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority,' she said.

Abdullah's visit was also aimed at adding a Jordanian voice to international calls for a revival of stalled direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, with Judeh, the Jordanian foreign minister, saying that the establishment of a Palestinian state was not only a Palestinian interest but a Jordanian one as well.

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