Hussein Is Committed to Peace Effort, Bradley Says

Jordan’s King Hussein has reiterated his commitment to the latest Middle East peace initiative and said that rather than weakening the process, recent contacts between his country and Syria “have strengthened the possibilities,” Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said Thursday.

Speaking in a telephone interview hours after returning from Amman, where he met Hussein earlier in the day, Bradley said he had delivered an oral message to the Jordanian monarch from Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and was bringing back a reply.

The king asked that Bradley “indicate his (Hussein’s) pleasure that Prime Minister Peres had sent the message to him, and (that) he himself was firmly committed to the peace initiative.” The mayor said he had been unable to reach Peres as of early Thursday evening, but that he hoped “one of the members of our delegation is going to be able to reach him” today.

Private Meeting

Bradley arrived in the region last Saturday at the head of a Los Angeles business delegation. After five days of meetings in Israel, he went to Amman on Wednesday to address Jordan’s World Affairs Council.

He said he and U.S. Ambassador to Jordan Paul Boeker met with Hussein privately for about 15 minutes Thursday. He said his message from Peres was one of “thanks and praise for King Hussein’s initiative in the effort to seek discussions and negotiations that could lead toward peace between Israel and Jordan.” Peres also “emphasized his own personal commitment” to peace, Bradley said.

Hussein “was pleased to hear the message” from Peres, Bradley said. “He reiterated his firm commitment to the peace initiatives that they’ve been involved in and acknowledged that it’s a long, tough road to pursue. But he thinks it’s worth it and he’s going to do everything he can to see it through to the end.”

Israeli Crisis

Bradley said that he and the king did not discuss the government crisis that erupted in Israel this week but that he did ask Hussein whether meetings in Damascus the previous two days between Jordanian and Syrian officials had resulted in any change in his commitment to the peace process.

Some Israeli officials have suggested that any rapprochement between Jordan and Syria will interfere with Jordan’s ability to open peace talks.

“He felt that, rather than weakening the peace initiatives . . . those meetings in fact have strengthened the possibilities,” Bradley said.