JordanÂ’s King Abdullah II urged Israel to end its occupation of Arab land to guarantee peaceful co-existence with the worldÂ’s Muslims and warned against a hasty US troop pullout from Iraq, in an interview with AFP on Tuesday.
“Israel, the European states and the United States should realise that the Palestinian issue does not only concern the Palestinians but also has the sympathy of all Muslims from Indonesia to the Maghreb states,” he said. | “If Israel wants to co-exist with more than a billion Muslims, it should end its occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands”. |
“If Israel wants to co-exist with more than a billion Muslims, it should end its occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands”.
The king also urged the Israeli people to accept an Arab peace plan adopted at a summit in Saudi Arabia last month, saying it “reflects collective Arab will to build peace that puts an end to years of violence and suffering. “They also should acknowledge that this is a unique opportunity in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that it is time they work to convince their leaders of the need to resume peace negotiations,” he said.
Asked to comment on remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who said peace could be possible within five years, the king said: “Peace can be reached during a much shorter time, if goodwill prevails”.
“This opportunity may not be available in the future,” he said, reiterating that solving the Palestinian question and the issue of refugees were central to a comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. |