Jordan to urge Israeli PM to resume peace talks

Ehud Olmert has already met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Picture / Reuters.

AMMAN - Jordan's King Abdullah will use talks in Amman on Wednesday to urge Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to revive stalled Arab-Israeli peace talks through international mediation, Jordian officials have said.

They said Jordan would focus on lobbying its western neighbour to return back to talks sponsored by Middle East peace brokers under the "road map for peace", drafted in 2003 which seeks a negotiated two-state solution.

It is the first visit to Jordan by an Israeli prime minister in six years. Olmert's office said in a statement his meeting with King Abdullah would take place in Amman at 1.30pm (10.30pm NZT) on Wednesday.

"The visit comes as part of Jordan's efforts to revive the peace process by a commitment to the road map and its implementation through direct talks," government spokesperson Nasser Joudeh told the state news agency Petra.

The 2003 Middle East peace road map was drafted by the so- called Quartet of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations before Israel started its controversial barrier in the West Bank, cutting off Israeli from Palestinian areas.

For Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab countries with full peace treaties with Israel, the road map offers a viable plan for a lasting settlement.

In a meeting with US President George Bush on May 29, the staunch pro-US monarch appealed for a more interventionist role to persuade Israel to heed Arab calls for a resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians, officials said.

Officials said the monarch will argue with Olmert against pre-empting a final deal by unilateral moves, which has emerged as a major Jordanian and Egyptian concern after the Israeli leader's proposed a plan to draw borders with the West Bank with or without Palestinian agreement.

"There is a need not to have any party take any unilateral steps that would harm the final status talks," Joudeh added.

Olmert promised both in the United States last month and in talks in Egypt on Sunday to give negotiations with the Palestinians a chance but said in the end that his country reserved the right to find other ways to end conflict with its neighbours.

Olmert is expected to hold his first peace summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the end of the month.

Jordan has echoed Arab worries about the prospects for peace after the election of a new Israeli government under Olmert that could push unilateral steps and a Palestinian government that disavows peace accords led by the militant group Hamas.

Olmert campaigned in Israeli elections on a controversial plan to withdraw from parts of the West Bank while annexing other parts which Israel has already settled with Jews.

Meanwhile, Israeli planes struck targets in Gaza on Wednesday, hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave the Hamas government 48 hours to accept a manifesto implicitly recognising Israel or face a referendum on the issue.

Abbas had set a Tuesday deadline for Hamas to embrace the manifesto on Palestinian statehood but delayed a showdown after what officials said were appeals by Arab leaders.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said an Israeli aerial attack targeted a building used by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an umbrella group of militants, to manufacture and store rockets in Gaza City.

A PRC source said there were no casualties.

- REUTERS