Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called jointly
Sunday for international observers to be sent into the Palestinian territories during a meeting on the sidelines of the Islamic summit in Doha.
They said "the murderous incidents in the Palestinian territories make international observers necessary to assure international protection for the Palestinians," the official Jordanian news agency Petra said.
Abdullah condemned "the acts of murder and violence committed by the Israeli army against Palestinian civilians along with the continued blockade imposed on Palestinian cities and villages."
The king also called on Israel "to work toward stopping its policy of escalation that is compromising the region's security and stability."
Abdullah also discussed the situation in the Palestinian territories in meetings with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Petra said.
Jordan, which hosts the most Palestinian refugees, is the only Arab country other than Egypt to have signed a peace treaty with Israel.
ARAFAT MEETS ANNAN TO DISCUSS UN OBSERVER MISSION
Meanwhile, Arafat met UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for talks on a French proposal for a UN observer mission to be sent to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a diplomatic source said.
"On the (Palestinian call) for a protection force, they discussed the possible use of observers" to be deployed in the territories where more than 200 people have been killed in six weeks of Israeli-Palestinian clashes, he said.
The source, who asked not to be named, told AFP their talks on the sidelines of an Islamic summit covered "the timeframe available given the political transition in the United States," where a new president is to take office in January.
On Friday, Arafat asked the UN Security Council to send a force to protect Palestinians from Israeli troops, but his spokesman said the Palestinian leader might accept a French proposal for unarmed observers instead.
Arafat has appealed for 2,000 armed military observers, a move opposed by both Israel and the United States.
The US ambassador in New York, Richard Holbrooke, said the United States would oppose any proposal which did not have Israeli support.
Palestinian spokesman Marwan Jilani, meanwhile, said Arafat had "left the door open" for discussing the alternative floated by the French ambassador to the UN, Jean-David Levitte, for an unarmed observer force.
The French proposal, which has British support, was for an unspecified number of observers "armed only with cameras" to monitor the situation.
French diplomats said the observers would be mobile and would be charged with reporting violence "whatever its source." The observers would report to Annan and to the Security Council, but also to the Israeli and Palestinian authorities -- (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
