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Jordan to host Bush summit with Sharon and Abbas
Egypt to host another US-Arab summit
Jordan Times, 5/28/03
AMMAN (Agencies) — Jordan will host a landmark summit between US President George W. Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers in the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah, Minister of State for Political Affairs and Minister of Information Mohammad Adwan said on Tuesday.
Adwan, who did not give a date for the meeting, told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that “two summits” will be held during a visit to the region by Bush.
“Two summits will be held in the region during the visit of the American president,” said Adwan, who is also the government spokesman.
“The first (will be) in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) between President Bush and several Arab leaders, including His Majesty King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,” Adwan told Petra.
“Jordan will host in Aqaba, in the presence of King Abdullah, the second summit which will bring together President Bush, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,” Adwan told Petra.
Adwan said “consultations were currently under way to set the date for both summits.”
Earlier, Egypt's state-run news agency MENA reported that Bush would meet Arab leaders in Egypt on June 4 before seeing the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers in Jordan the next day.
“It has virtually been decided that President Hosni Mubarak will host an Arab-American summit on June 4 in Sharm El Sheikh,” an Egyptian Red Sea resort, MENA reported.
It said that King Abdullah, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, King Hamad of Bahrain and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia would attend the summit in Egypt.
“A second summit will take place June 5 in Aqaba, Jordan, between Mr Bush and the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers, Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon,” MENA added.
The idea of a summit between Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers was floated after the Israeli government on Sunday grudgingly accepted the internationally-drafted roadmap, which envisions the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Reports abounded that Jordan and Egypt were vying for the venue until it finally emerged that not one but two summits would be held.
The US has not yet confirmed the meetings, but Bush administration officials said last week that Bush may meet Sharon and Abbas after he attends the June 1-3 summit of the Group of Eight in Evian, France.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that Bush was examining all the options but declined to speak about his plans.
Details of the talks Bush is set to have with Arab and Israeli leaders were not yet clear but it is certain that he will use the moment to build on the commitments he made to Middle East peace in a key strategy speech last June.
In that speech, Bush drew the guidelines for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and linked the creation of a Palestinian state to reforms, the election of a new Palestinian leadership and the sidelining of Yasser Arafat.
Abbas, who was confirmed last month as prime minister, has already been hailed by Bush as a “reformist.”
And Bush, hinting that he would meet Abbas and Sharon, said on Friday: “If a meeting advances progress towards two states living side by side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting.”
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |