Egypt, Jordan Oppose 'Interim' Palestinian State
June 19
— By Nadim Ladki
AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan and Egypt cast doubt on Wednesday on proposals for a provisional Palestinian state being considered by the United States and criticized Israel's threat to reoccupy Palestinian land in response to new suicide attacks. The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab states with peace treaties with Israel, rejected any talk of a provisional Palestinian state and called for a timetable for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Their comments were made in Amman following talks between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah, part of Arab diplomatic activity ahead of an expected speech by President Bush on his vision for ending Palestinian-Israeli violence and paving the way for peace.
U.S. officials have said an interim Palestinian state is one option Bush is considering.
"We don't understand the meaning of a provisional Palestinian state. It should be permanent in line with the definition of a final solution," Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said.
"In international law there is no reference to a provisional state," he added.
Muasher said the Palestinian state should be established in the whole of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, areas occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Both ministers said any plan required a clear timetable for implementation.
"We hope that this speech is balanced and frank on the need to reach a final settlement and doesn't talk on interim measures," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Bush's new policy would call for the early creation of a provisional Palestinian state and the completion of negotiations over permanent borders within three years.
Several Arab leaders have said they are bewildered by the concept of interim statehood for the Palestinians.
"I've heard of an interim government or prime minister, but I've never heard of an interim state," Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri told reporters in London on Tuesday.
SPEECH DELAYED
Bush had been scheduled to unveil his Middle East policy on Wednesday, but postponed the speech after a suicide attack in Jerusalem on Tuesday killed 19 passengers on a bus, the Washington Post said.
He now plans to deliver the speech between Thursday and Monday, it said.
The talks in Jordan came hours after the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel would reoccupy Palestinian areas in the West Bank in response to any new attacks, drawing criticism from the Jordanian and Egyptian ministers.
"Of course we refuse this and think this is not helpful to the people of Israel or to the cause of peace," Maher said.
"Mr Sharon is used to threatening all his neighbors. I think he must understand that the only way to ensure the security of the Israeli people is through a political process that leads to the implementation of the policy of two states in Palestine living side by side," he said.
Maher said Sharon's policies had not achieved peace and security for the Israeli people, "which is a proof of the fallacy of his policy and that he should change policy."
"I think he is continuing on a very dangerous path and I believe that the Israeli people realize that this path is leading nowhere but to more suffering and strife and to more complications," Maher said in English.
Mubarak later flew to Damascus for similar talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, officials said.
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