Israeli envoy meets King Abdullah

Israeli envoy meets King Abdullah
REUTERS

JAN 14: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's top security adviser met Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday and briefed him on latest efforts to push forward stalled peace talks, officials said.

They said Danny Yatom, a senior aide of Barak, delivered a letter from the Israeli leader to the monarch on efforts to narrow differences between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators.

Both sides have so far failed to find common ground on US proposals, which include Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank and Gaza and Palestinian renunciation of the right of four million refugees to return to homes in Israel.

Jordan, which hosts 40 per cent of more than three million UN-registered Palestinian refugees, has warned its national interests must be safeguarded in any final deal. The fate of exiled Palestinians is at the core of final status talks that cover the thorniest issues of the conflict.

An official said the King told Yatom in the 90-minute meeting that Israel must immediately end its use of excessive force against civilian Palestinians and lift a blockade of self-rule areas blamed for causing widespread hardship.

Amman says these measures fuel Palestinian anger and erode chances of an end to an uprising against Israeli occupation. The monarch said Barak's government should intensify its efforts before Israeli elections on February 6 to reach a peace deal that could well be the last opportunity to attain a final Arab-Israeli settlement.

"The monarch stressed the necessity to seize on the opportunity that now prevails itself to attain peace," the official said.

Since violence flared on September 28, more than 360 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed.