In Rare Exchange, Jordan's King Says Syria, Iran Threaten Israel

[SpaceFalcon2001]

'Bold' Words to Groups Seen as Bid for Key Role
By ori Nir
March 25, 2005
WASHINGTON — Syria and Iran are pushing Hezbollah to increase anti-Israeli terrorism, Jordan's King Abdullah warned this week, in a rare rebuke of other Muslim countries in front of a Jewish audience.

Abdullah made his remarks Tuesday in a meeting with Jewish communal leaders. According to participants in the meeting, the king told Jewish communal leaders that he recently offered a similar warning to Israeli Prime Minister Sharon, predicting that Hezbollah may launch attacks either directly or through its Islamist allies in the West Bank and Gaza.

It is highly unusual for an Arab leader to lob such severe accusations at another Arab state in a meeting with American Jews. The gathering was organized by the Jordanians and involved representatives of several organizations, including the two most influential Jewish groups on Israel-related issues, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

"This was striking," one participant said, noting that in past meetings Abdullah characterized Syrian President Bashar Assad as a pragmatist with whom Israel and the United States ought to be talking.

The remarks appeared to be part of a wider effort by Jordan to establish itself as a key address for Middle East peacemaking and as America's main Arab ally. In recent weeks, Abdullah has backed American calls for Syrian forces to leave Lebanon, returned his country's ambassador to Israel and pushed the Arab League to adopt a resolution calling for steps toward "normalization" of relations with Israel prior to an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza.

"King Abdullah has made a strategic decision to be as constructive as possible on the peace process, to support in a tangible way the U.S. efforts in Iraq and other U.S. regional goals," said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. This strategy involves risk, Satloff said, "But the Jordanians have more at stake than other regimes in the region."

In his meeting with American Jewish leaders, Abdullah focused on the likelihood of Syria "trying to use such attacks to destabilize the situation between Israelis and Palestinians and divert attentions from Syria's presence in Lebanon," according to one participant, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Relations between Syria and Jordan have soured recently, mainly because of Jordan's position that Syria should withdraw from Lebanon immediately.

Assad's regime was infuriated by a statement to that effect issued by Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Al-Mulqi during a visit to Israel earlier this month.

The Jordanian monarch spoke with American Jews in Washington as other Arab leaders arrived in Algiers to attend an Arab League summit, in which most participants voiced support for Syria's defiance in the face of international pressure to withdraw from Lebanon immediately. Participants in the summit reaffirmed their rejection last week of Abdullah's proposal for some "normalization" with Israel, but did decide to "reactivate" or "re-launch" the Arab peace initiative that they ratified in 2002.

The 2002 plan, initially submitted by Saudi Arabia, offers Israel normal relations with every Arab state in return for full withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders.

A communiqué, read aloud Wednesday at the final session of the Algiers summit, stated that peace was the Arab leaders' "strategic option" to settle the conflict with Israel.

Abdullah boycotted the summit in protest of the other Arab leaders' rejection of his proposal for increased Israeli-Arab relations. The Jordanian initiative was first reported as a push for Arab states to establish relations with Israel. But Jordan's prime minister, Faisal Fayez, told Arab leaders and reporters in Algiers that his country's position was misunderstood.

In the meeting with Jewish communal leaders, King Abdullah did not refer to the Arab League's rejection of his initiative. He did tell them, however, that Jordan unilaterally decided to return its ambassador to Israel last month. The Egyptians, Abdullah said, decided to follow suit after Jordan informed them of its decision.

In the meeting with Jewish communal leaders, Abdullah reportedly described Iran as a long-term threat to the Israeli-Arab peace process and to regional stability — a position similar to Israel's. As for Syria, he characterized the country as a short-term threat.

He told his Jewish interlocutors that his warning of a Syria-Hezbollah attempt to instigate anti-Israeli terrorism is in part based on a recent increase in infiltrations of Hezbollah militants into Jordan. The king said that Jordanian law-enforcement agents recently caught several vehicles with armed men — suspected Hezbollah members — who crossed the border from Syria with the apparent intention to either attack Israeli targets in Jordan or to cross the border into the West Bank.

This being the case, Abdullah said, he had urged Sharon that if there were another terrorist attack against Israel, the Israelis should conduct a thorough investigation into the possibility of Hezbollah involvement before holding the Palestinian Authority responsible.

A spokeswoman for the Jordanian embassy in Washington said Wednesday that the gist of the king's message to the Jewish communal leaders was that "Palestinian groups should not be penalized for attacks carried out by outside forces."

The spokeswoman denied reports in the Israeli press that the king warned Sharon of an imminent mega-attack to be conducted by Hezbollah.

Jordan is particularly concerned that Iran will act to turn Iraq into another Shi'ite Islamic republic. In a recent interview with Satloff, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, published in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly, the king said: "My concern is political, not religious, revolving around Iran, Iran's political involvement inside Iraq, its relation with Syria and Hezbollah, and the strengthening of (their) political-strategic alliance. This would create a scenario where you have these four [Iran, Iran-influenced Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah] who have a strategic objective that could create a major conflict."

Abdullah told Jewish communal leaders that he was seeking Jewish, Christian and Muslim partners in America to help him extend his Amman Message — an initiative to divorce Islam from politics and from extremism — to the United States. The king said that he intends to return to Washington in June to help convene an interfaith conference of Christian, Muslim and Jewish clerics.

In the framework of the Amman Message, the king told Jewish communal leaders that Jordan is seeking American Jewish partners to develop a program highlighting the similarities between Judaism and Islam. The intention, he said, is to reduce tension between followers of the two faiths and de-politicize religion.

Jewish participants in the meeting characterized the initiative as "welcome" and "well overdue," and predicted that Jewish groups would be happy to cooperate.

"The king has always been very candid," said one participant, who has met with the Jordanian monarch in the past. "But this time I think we met a leader who is very comfortable with where he is at, and not afraid to do bold things. That's impressive."

[Genius]

King Abdullah is a ----- to the West who oppress's his people, since when did it become ok to be buds with a tyrant?

[SpaceFalcon2001]

So first you find it acceptable to kill the muslims of lebanon, then you think the terrorists should continue beyond Israel to slaughter other muslim countries? You couldn't be any more unislamic, you must really hate your Ummah