Egypt, Jordan Denounce Israel, Urge Peace Talks

15/04/2001| IslamWeb

AMMAN (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Egypt and Jordan, Israel's only Arab neighbors to have signed peace treaties with it, denounced the Jewish state's ``policy of assassinations'' against Palestinians and called on Saturday for peace talks. (Read photo caption below)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah expressed these views during a nearly three-hour summit in the Egyptian city of Alexandria focusing on efforts to stem 11 months of intensifying Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, Jordan's Petra state news agency said.
The two leaders appealed for an immediate end to bloodshed before a resumption of peace talks, and held Israel fully responsible for the increased bloodshed, Petra said.
``They condemned Israeli measures...the policy of assassinations, demolition of homes and institutions practiced by Israel in the Palestinian territories,'' the official news agency reported.
Egypt and Jordan prodded ``the international community to move quickly to adopt practical and specific measures to restore calm in Palestinian territories and end the aggression against the Palestinian people,'' it said.
The two leaders endorsed a speedy implementation of former U.S. Senator George Mitchell's blueprint for a return to negotiations and for a mid-June cease-fire plan negotiated by CIA Director George Tenet.
``The two leaders consider their implementation (Mitchell and Tenet plans) as a complete package, a step that had to be done immediately to contain the crisis and create the right conditions to resume peace talks,'' the agency said.
King Abdullah had visited Russia earlier this week where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin on the Middle East.
The Alexandria meeting took place against the backdrop of an international diplomatic attack on Israel at a U.N. conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.
Palestinian officials said a senior Palestinian security official died and two others were wounded on Saturday in Gaza City in a car explosion they attributed to an Israeli assassination.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) and Jordan's King Abdullah meet in Alexandria September 1, 2001. Both leaders began talks in an effort to stem 11 months of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby
- Sep 01 8:00 AM ET