King meets former information ministers, media figures

His Majesty King Abdullah II, Wednesday, said his recent visit to the U.S. focused on the Palestinian issue, the outcome of the recent Arab summit, the Syrian crisis, the situation in Iraq and the fight against terrorism and extremism.

He also said his visit to Washington had touched on the importance of Jordanian-US economic cooperation and the U.S. assistance to face economic and financial woes.

The King made the remarks as he met with former information ministers, directors of official media departments and chief editors of newspapers.

“I told U.S. President Donald Trump, that “the economic situation and challenges facing Jordanians are the most important thing for me”, he added.

“I am optimistic about the new U.S. administration assistance and its stances on regional issues in terms of its desire to support a peaceful solutions to these issues,” said the King.

King Abdullah added that “U.S. President believes in the need to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and fight terrorism”.

In this context, His Majesty expressed optimism that there is an effective U.S. vision towards the region.

“In return, there should be a unified Arab stance to support the Palestinian brethren and Jordan, as president of the Arab summit, is coordinating with the Egyptian and Palestinian presidents to arrive at a solution to the Palestinian issue,” King Abdullah said.

During the Arab summit, the King said, there was an important opportunity to build bridges of cooperation among Arab countries to address common challenges.

On Syrian, the King said that is no alternative to a political solution, and that this will not be achieved without cooperation between Russia and the United States on all files.

“We will not allow the developments in southern Syria to threaten Jordan,” he said, adding that we are continuing our defence policy without the need for a role for the Jordanian army inside Syria. “We have a fixed position on this, and the goal is fight terrorist groups, namely Daesh”. His Majesty added.

On the situation on the northern borders, he said Jordan has full capabilities and various means to deal with any developments in accordance with our priorities.

King Abdullah said that the war against terrorism and Daesh goes beyond Syria and Iraq and requires a holistic strategy in the whole world.

He said that no one in the Islamic world has an interest in a Sunni-Shiite confrontation, adding that “we are one nation and that the differences are political ,and are caused by Iran and its interference in the region that should be dealt with”.

On the local front, the King highlighted the importance of coordination among media outlets and state institutions to provide information to citizens in a transparent manner, especially that there are many parties, mostly foreign, that try to spread false news about Jordan and its institutions.

His Majesty said that the rule of law is a basic issue and that laws presented by the government to the Parliament are very important, especially in enhancing the concept of civil state. “I expect each citizen to respect the laws of this country as he does when he is in Dubai because there is no one above the law,” he added.

The meeting also focused the main challenges at the local and regional levels and the role that should be played by media outlets to address them in an objective manner through providing citizens with the right information.

For their part, the attendees lauded the efforts of the King to defend issues of the Arab nation, namely the Palestinian cause.

The also stressed the need to strengthen the internal front to address regional challenges, noting that the national media plays an important role in this regard.

The meeting was attended by the Royal Court chief, the director of the King’s office and the state minister for media affairs.