Jordan, US have ‘enormous stake’ in Mideast peace, Obama says
President Obama met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the White house today. They had a lot to talk about. Evidence is mounting that Syria has used sarin gas, a toxic nerve agent. The president has previously stated that the use of chemical weapons would be a red line in Syria. The president says that the information about the use of chemical weapons is still being assessed.
And, of course the president and the king discussed the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. The president is trying to use the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative as a framework to build a peace treaty.
US President Barack Obama welcomed King
Abdullah II of Jordan Friday, to the Oval Office in the White House
Friday where the two leaders discussed urgent matters, namely the
Middle East peace process and reports by Washington officials that
Syria used chemical weapons against its own population.
Obama called the monarch “a great
partner” and a “great friend” of the US, and praised him for
enacting a series of pro-democratic, entrepreneurial reforms.
“We think Jordan can be an
extraordinary model for effective governance in the region,” Obama
said to reporters before beginning his private meeting with Abdullah.
Obama said they would also discuss the
Middle East peace process. He noted that the last time he met with
Abdullah was at the end of his trip to Israel and the West Bank in
March, during which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
“Jordan, like the US, has an enormous
stake in this,” the president said, referring to the
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He said that the US and Jordan see
eye to eye on there being a “window of opportunity” during which
a peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians could take
place — an agreement that would make Israel secure and enable it to
normalize its relations with its neighbors, and also establish a
sovereign Palestinian state.
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