Foreign minister partakes in Paris peace meeting

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs, Nasser Judeh, took part in an international ministerial meeting in Paris on Friday, to kick off a French initiative to push the Palestinians and the Israelis to restart peace talks.

Establishing an independent Palestinian state on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, is Jordan's top priority the minister reiterated in his keynote speech.

He asserted the importance of stepping up efforts to breathe new life into the stalled peace process, based on the two-state solution, international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

The deadlock in peace process can only fuel extremism and threaten regional and global security, said Judeh.

He added that King Abdullah is the one who brought back the Palestinian issue to the forefront of the international attention through the speech delivered by His Majesty before the US Congress in 2007.

Also, he expressed Jordan's support to France's efforts aimed at reviving the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

Jordan supports serious peace negotiations that lead to a two-state solution within a clear commitment to specific timeframe, which requires a halt in Israeli settlements, stop attacks on civilians and all unilateral Israeli practices and violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in East Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian, the minister added.

He also pointed to diplomatic efforts of USA, Russia and the International Quartet for Middle East Peace to realize a two-state solution.

Source ; Petra