Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Saturday discussed Arab and international steps that could be taken to secure Palestinian rights, a palace spokesman said.
Abdullah held talks with Arafat over an iftar -- the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk Muslim fast of the holy month of Ramadan -- at his private home, the official said.
"The talks centered on the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations underway in Washington and the diplomatic efforts that are deployed to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process," the official said.
Arafat and Abdullah also discussed the "steps that can be taken on the Arab and international fronts" to secure Palestinian rights, the official said.
Abdullah reiterated Jordan's support for the "Palestinian right to set up an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital" as well as for a "just solution" to the issue of Palestinian refugees.
The king reiterated his view that Palestinians should be allowed to return to land occupied by Israel and be compensated in line with international resolutions.
"This is a necessary condition to achieving peace and stability in the Middle East," Abdullah said.
Jordan is home to 1.5 million Palestinian refugees out of the 3.7 million registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency and half the five million population is of Palestinian origin.
Arafat arrived in Jordan shortly after noon with top advisors, including Mahmud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina and Nabil Shaath, to brief Abdullah on the Washington talks and seek his support.
The visit coincides with last-ditch efforts by US President Bill Clinton to salvage the peace process before the end of his term January 20.
Clinton was meeting top Palestinian and Israeli negotiators before their departure from the United States later Saturday following a series of closed door negotiations with US administration officials since Tuesday at the Bolling Air Force base near Washington.
Late Friday, the Palestinian leadership issued a bleak statement at the end of its weekly cabinet meeting saying "no change has been perceived in the Israeli attitude on the occasion of the resumption of negotiations".
Arafat confirmed the mood as he arrived in Jordan telling reporters that the Israelis were putting "many obstacles" in the path of negotiations and even "backtracked on what they used to say before". He did not elaborate.
But he denied that the Washington talks focused on an Israeli offer to allow Palestinian sovereignty over Muslim holy sites in exchange for the Palestinians giving up the right to return.
The Palestinians want a peace deal involving an Israeli withdrawal to the territories it controlled before the outbreak of the June 1967 Middle East war and the right of return to the estimated 3.7 million Palestinians, and their descendants, who fled the Jewish state when it was created in 1948.
In a meeting Wednesday with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators Clinton laid out "parameters" for a possible agreement that included suggestions on bridging gaps between the two sides on the most sensitive issues dividing them, Ben Ami said -- AMMAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
