Kings of Saudi and Jordan align positions on US role in Palestinian issue

Date: 30 / 04 / 2009 Time: 11:38
Bethlehem - Ma’an/Agencies -

Jordan's King Abdullah II and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz met ahead of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ planned trip to Saudi Arabia next week and discussed their positions on Middle East peace.

According to SPA, the official Saudi news agency, the leaders discussed the “Palestinian issue” ahead of King Abdullah’s trip to Washington in the coming weeks. The meeting follows a gathering of Arab Foreign Ministers in Amman on 10 April, where the officials discussed strategy over the new Israeli government and Arab Peace Plan.

Following the meeting King Abdullah stressed his position that Washington must make a serious push for peace in the region. The monarch took an equally hard line when he spoke with a US congressional delegation headed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, also on 10 April, stating that the US must swiftly re-launch peace talks aimed at a two state solution.

King Abdullah also made clear that the US should firm-up its position on the new Israeli government before the scheduled visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington next month.

"But if, right after that visit, there's not a clear understanding of how America is going to weigh in on these problems, then I think the goodwill for the United States will disappear," AFP quoted him as saying during an interview.

"In the next 18 months, if we don't move the process forward ... there will be another conflict between Israel and another protagonist," he added.

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